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 By a vote of 64-36, the Senate sent the measure to President
Barack Obama to be signed into law, an achievement for a divided
Congress that has failed to agree on a budget since 2009.
"All told, it's a good first step away from the shortsighted,
crisis-driven decision-making that has only served to act as a drag
on our economy," Obama said in a statement.
He also urged Congress to pass an extension of long-term
unemployment benefits that expire at year-end for some 1.3 million
jobless Americans, a move sought by Democrats that was not part of
the deal struck by Republican Representative Paul Ryan and
Democratic Senator Patty Murray.
The budget measure, passed in the House of Representatives last week
by an overwhelming margin, restores overall fiscal 2014 spending
levels for government agencies to $1.012 trillion, trimming the
across-the-board budget cuts that were set to begin next month by
about $63 billion over two years.
It pays for the additional near-term spending with a variety of
other savings, including increased airport security fees paid by
airline passengers and pension benefit cuts for new federal
employees and working-age military retirees.
WORKING HOLIDAY
Wednesday's vote fired the starting gun on a mad dash by the House
and Senate Appropriations committees to assemble a massive spending
bill that implements the deal and carves up the funding pie among
thousands of government programs from national parks to the
military.
Without the new spending authority, the federal government on
January 15 could partially shut down, as it did for 16 days last
October.
Not surprisingly, one of fights ahead involves funding of
"Obamacare," the president's signature healthcare law, according to
Republican and Democratic aides in the House and Senate.
"It's one of many flashpoints," said a House Republican aide who
asked not to be identified, adding, "But it's not insurmountable."
Republicans are warning that they will not tolerate any increase in
funding for administering the troubled health insurance reform law.
Democrats hope to maintain or add small amounts of money for the
program they say will provide healthcare to millions of previously
uninsured people.
As is the case with all spending bills in a deeply divided Congress,
there are plenty of other disagreements besides the Obamacare
funding level.
Among the most difficult will be money for the Internal Revenue
Service, the nation's tax collector; funds for western wildfire
fighting and for the Yucca Mountain, Nevada, nuclear waste
repository.
Separate battles also could be waged over policy proposals that
House Republican leaders are likely to attach to the funding bill.
These could include forcing the Obama administration to approve a
controversial Keystone oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico.
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There also could be moves to stop the Environmental Protection
Agency from enforcing carbon emissions regulations that the coal
industry hates and to block federal money for building a California
high-speed train.
Given all of the disagreements, one House Democratic aide familiar
with the appropriations process that is under way warned: "Nobody
should be getting ahead of themselves; it's not a given that we're
out of the woods" in passing the bill that would carry out the
budget deal and avoid a Jan. 15 government shutdown.
The budget plan won support from some of the most conservative House
members, as well as nine Republicans in the Senate.
But congressional aides said there nonetheless are worries that some
of those conservatives might balk at the prospect of voting for a $1
trillion spending bill that wraps a slew of controversial programs
into one gigantic package.
"There was broad bipartisan support for the (budget) deal. There
should be the same broad bipartisan vote for the package
implementing that deal," said the House Democratic aide, adding,
"This is a very open question."
The House Republican aide echoed those concerns.
MILITARY PENSION ANGST
The budget measure passed over objections from senators in both
parties to a pension benefit cut for military retirees, vowing to
make changes to the provision before it takes effect in 2015.
The plan provides $6 billion in 10-year savings by reducing annual
cost of living adjustments for retirees under age 62, who often draw
pensions while pursuing a second career outside the military. But
some Republicans said the bill's language would also apply the
reduction to veterans who had to retire because of war wounds — not
what they intended with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan still winding
down.
"The military retiree provision is a pay-for that has got everybody
wondering. And upon a second evaluation, it's probably, certainly
not the right thing to do," said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South
Carolina Republican.
(Editing by Fred Barbash, Cynthia Osterman and Vicki Allen)
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