The Democratic-controlled Senate on Saturday turned back a Republican effort to block a final vote on a huge end-of-year spending bill that rewards most federal agencies with generous budget boosts.
The US$1.1 trillion measure combines much of the year’s unfinished budget work — only a US$626 billion Pentagon spending measure would remain — into a 1,000-plus-page spending bill that would give the Education Department, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and others increases far exceeding inflation.
The 60-34 vote met the minimum threshold to end the Republican effort to block the bill. A final vote was set for yesterday afternoon to send the measure to US President Barack Obama.
Democrats held the vote open for an hour to accommodate Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew who walked more than 5km to the Capitol to vote on the Sabbath after attending services at his synagogue in the city’s Georgetown neighborhood. Lieberman wore a black wool overcoat and brilliant orange scarf — as well as a wide grin — as he provided the crucial 60th vote.
The measure combines US$447 billion in operating budgets with about US$650 billion in mandatory payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. It wraps together six individual spending bills and also contains more than 5,000 back-home projects sought by lawmakers in both parties.
The measure provides spending increases averaging about 10 percent to programs under immediate control of Congress, blending increases for veterans’ programs, NASA and the FBI with a pay raise for federal workers and help for car dealers.
It bundles six of the 12 annual spending bills, capping a dysfunctional appropriations process for budget year that began on Oct. 1, dysfunctional appropriations process in which House leaders blocked Republicans from debating key issues and Senate Republicans dragged out debates.
Just the US$626 billion defense bill would remain. That’s being held back to serve as a vehicle to advance must-pass legislation such as a plan to allow the government’s debt to swell by nearly US$2 trillion. The government’s total debt has nearly doubled in the past seven years and is expected to exceed the current ceiling of US$12.1 trillion before Jan. 1.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
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