Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., refused repeatedly to permit final passage of the measure unless Democrats first allow a vote on his plan for erasing most of the cuts aimed at towers operated by Federal Aviation Administration contract employees. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., just as persistently declined to give in, and other Democrats noted that House Republicans had rejected calls to give all federal agencies the type of budget flexibility that Moran was seeking.
The test of wills endured as Republicans and Democrats in Congress struggled with two goals - ensuring there is no interruption of routine government funding while simultaneously vying for political advantage in the wake of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts that kicked in earlier this month. Across the Capitol, the Republican-controlled House began debate on a budget that promises to eliminate federal deficits in decade. The blueprint, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, D-Wis., calls for $6.4 trillion in spending cuts and no tax increases, and is expected to clear by week's end.
For their part, Senate Republicans kept their distance from the plan, deciding not to seek a symbolic vote on it when the Senate begins its own budget debate later in the week. Sensing an opportunity for political mischief, Senate Democrats vowed not to let Republicans off easy. They said they would require a vote on Ryan's budget - even though they unanimously oppose it. As gridlock gripped the Senate, the top U.S. commander in South America told Congress the cuts would reduce if not eliminate the entire fleet of ships used to counter drug-runners.
Gen. John Kelly said that U.S. forces seized 150 to 200 tons of cocaine last year. If the budget cuts stand, "next year all of that will make its way ashore and into the United States," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. In the Senate, Moran said, "It's not my nature to be an obstructionist" as he pressed his case. He added that his proposal has support from senators in both parties and that House Republican leaders have indicated the bill's final approval would not be jeopardized if the change were incorporated.
MORE
Congress has comfortably passed a large spending bill to keep the US government running until the end of September and avert a temporary shutdown. President Barack Obama must now sign the bill, which was passed by a bipartisan vote of 318-109. It retains $85bn (£56bn) in spending cuts this year that took effect on 1 March, but gives cabinet agencies new flexibility in implementing them. The bill also keeps in place a pay freeze for federal employees. Approved by the Senate on Wednesday, the legislation provides an extra $87bn to the Pentagon to pay for overseas operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Ryan plan approved
However, the bill does not signal an end to the fiscal warfare between Republicans and Democrats that has gridlocked Washington DC for so long. Congress will next have to agree on a budget for the following fiscal year, which begins on 1 October. Much of the disagreement has revolved around how best to reduce the government's annual budget deficit, which has hovered at around $1tn, without harming the economy. On Thursday, Republicans in the House backed a budget plan by Representative Paul Ryan. That bill, and a rival proposal being debated in the Democratic-controlled Senate, are widely viewed as political posturing by each party as they outline their federal spending priorities for future fiscal fights.
The Ryan blueprint, passed by 221-207 without the support of single Democratic lawmaker, would cut $5tn from the budget over a decade. It proposes an overhaul of the government healthcare programme, Medicare, that would affect those aged 54 and under. It also incorporates a $600bn tax raise already approved by Congress in a New Year deal. Mr Ryan's plan has been criticised by Democrats who disagree with a strategy that would balance the budget without further raising revenue. In the Senate, Democrats are putting forward a plan that would raise $1tn in new revenue to stabilise the national debt, but would not fully balance the budget.
BBC News - Congress passes budget bill to avert government shutdown
