Summary Democratic-led Senate was on track to approve a massive spending bill by early next week
WASHINGTON: (AP) - The Democratic-led Senate was on track to approve a massive spending bill by early next week that would prevent a U.S. government shutdown, despite strong objections from liberals to provisions rolling back bank regulations imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and conservatives upset about President Barack Obama s new immigration policy.
The fight over the USD 1.1 trillion spending bill reflected the Republicans newly gained leverage after their sweeping victories in last month s midterm elections.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was forced to abandon plans to adjourn the Senate for the weekend after two ultraconservative Republican senators, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, demanded a vote Friday night on a proposal to cut funds from the spending bill that could be used to implement Obama s executive actions that would give millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally a temporary reprieve from deportation.
That ended any chance the measure could clear the Senate and be sent to the White House with a minimum of fuss. Reid raised the possibility of a test vote on the spending bill shortly after midnight on Saturday.
To give the Senate time to complete action, Obama signed a 48-hour law to keep the government funded through Saturday and prevent a shutdown that both parties have pledged to avoid. A second stop-gap bill was also in the wings, to make sure the government had funding through Wednesday.
Many Democrats, including Obama, recognized that if the current bill fails, Republicans would pass an even more objectionable one when they take full control of Congress next month.
This has led to an unusual alliance between Obama and Republican leaders, who narrowly pushed the bill through the House of Representatives on Thursday by a vote of 219-206, over the objections of the Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi normally a close Obama ally.
Obama praised the bill, calling it a classic compromise produced by "the divided government that the American people voted for."
"This legislation allows us to build on the economic progress and the national security progress that s important," Obama said. Still, he said, "Had I been able to draft my own legislation and get it passed without any Republican votes I suspect it d be slightly different."
House Republican leaders needed some Democratic votes to overcome the objections of their most conservative members, who wanted to use the bill to block Obama s plan to deport fewer immigrants.
Similar splits have emerged in the Senate.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the chamber s most prominent liberals, blasted the measure in a Senate speech for the third straight day, saying it was a payoff to Citigroup, whose lobbyists helped write a provision that significantly weakens new regulations on derivatives trading by Wall Street banks.
"Enough is enough. Washington already works really well for the billionaires and the big corporations and the lawyers and the lobbyists," Warren said. "But what about the families who lost their homes or their jobs or their retirement savings the last time Citi bet big on derivatives and lost?"
Another provision loathed by many Democrats though backed by the Democratic National Committee raises the amount of money that wealthy donors may contribute to political parties for national conventions, election recounts and headquarters buildings.
Cruz, a champion of the ultra-conservative tea party movement, is incensed that the bill doesn t stop Obama s immigration plan.
Senate Republican leaders have pledged to challenge Obama s immigration policy early in the new year, after Republicans take control of the Senate. But Cruz suggested they shouldn t be entirely trusted to keep their pledge.
"We will learn soon enough if those statements are genuine and sincere," he said, in a clear reference to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner.
Cruz and Lee played a major role in events slightly more than a year ago that led to a partial government shutdown an event McConnell, Boehner and most Republicans have vowed to avoid repeating.
But the expectations are that the Senate s more centrist leaders, Reid and McConnell, will forge an alliance to push the spending bill through.
The spending measure provides funding to keep nearly the entire government operating through the Sept. 30 end of the current budget year, awarding increases for health research, securities regulation and foreign aid.
The sole exception is the Department of Homeland Security, which is funded only until Feb. 27. Republicans intend to try then to force the president to roll back the new immigration policy.
