The Senate passed a temporary spending bill Saturday, funding the government through Wednesday and giving legislators more time to consider a $1.1 trillion measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Senate \u2014 which convened in a rare weekend session \u2014 is largely expected to pass the spending package that would fund most federal agencies through Sept. 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The House narrowly approved the funding bill by a 219-206 vote Thursday, hours before government funding was set to run out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some Senate Democrats and Republicans oppose the measure because of provisions that would ease Wall Street regulations and campaign finance laws. President Obama has said he supports the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Friday, conservative Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, blocked efforts to prevent a weekend session in the Senate. Cruz and other conservatives have complained about Obama’s immigration executive order and want to use the spending bill to defund efforts to implement it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an exchange on the Senate floor Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Democratic Majority Whip Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois blamed the delay on Cruz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Durbin asked whether Cruz was also the senator who shut down the government last year in protest over the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The very same man,” Reid replied. “Now he’s hung up not only on the Affordable Care Act, but the president’s action to give 5 million people relief in this country so that they can come out of the shadows and make our country a more productive place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cruz, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said Reid was “going to an embarrassing length to tie up the floor to obstruct debate and a vote on this issue because he knows amnesty is unpopular with the American people, and he doesn’t want the Democrats on the record as supporting it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Saturday session began at noon, and Senators spent much of the day considering a slew of nominees for judicial and administration posts. Senators usually leave Thursday or Friday to return to their home states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Votes on the full spending measure as well as others in the coming week would wrap up the 113th Congress and end Democratic control of the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contributing: The Associated Press<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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