Congress sent President Obama an
ambitious budget and debt measure that averts a catastrophic national default
and sets spending priorities for the next two years. The Senate approved it by
a 64-35 vote early on Oct.
30. (AP)
The Senate voted early Friday morning to approve a
two-year budget deal that would increase spending limits and avert a damaging
default, essentially ending the budgetary battles that have defined President
Obama’s relationship with Congress in recent years.
The legislation passed by a vote of 64-35 after
overcoming objections from conservative senators, including presidential
candidates Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), that forced a rare series
of votes at 1 a.m. Obama has until Nov. 3 to sign the agreement before the
debt-limit deadline set by the Treasury Department.
The agreement, unveiled earlier this week, is the
result of tightly held negotiations between congressional leaders in both
parties and the White House.
Obama released a statement Friday morning saying he
would sign the bill “as soon as it reaches my desk.”
“I applaud the Democrats and Republicans who came
together this morning to pass a responsible, long-term budget agreement that
reflects our values, grows our economy and creates jobs,” he said in the
statement. “This agreement is a reminder that Washington can still choose to
help, rather than hinder, America’s progress.”
Here's what's in the
two-year budget deal
Once signed, the deal will lift the so-called
sequester spending caps and increase discretionary spending by about $80
billion over two years, an amount that will be split equally between defense
and domestic programs.
To offset this cost, negotiators tapped a number of
sources, including making changes to Medicare and Social Security, auctioning
off government-controlled wireless spectrum, selling crude oil from the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve and tightening tax rules for business partnerships.
In addition, the legislation will limit a historic
premium increase for some Medicare Part B beneficiaries, set to go into effect
next year, for services like hospital care and doctor visits.
The agreement also will prevent a potential 20
percent across-the-board cut to Social Security Disability Insurance benefits
scheduled to take place next year, by transferring resources from the main
Social Security fund and making changes to the program. The cost-saving
revisions include allowing some recipients who can still work to receive
partial payments while earning outside income, and expanding a program
requiring a second medical expert to weigh in on whether an applicant is
legitimately disabled.
Senators were resigned to the late-night vote, with
some saying they expected a vote to cut off debate and one on final passage to
occur about 1 a.m., when their disgruntled colleagues would have less incentive
to give floor speeches denouncing the agreement.
“Maybe they would decide it would be better to
speak when people are actually paying attention,” said Senate Majority Whip
John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Paul criticized Senate leaders for caving into
demands from Democrats to negotiate on spending rather than using the upcoming
debt limit deadline to force President Obama to make spending cuts.
“This is exactly the time we should be using the
leverage of the debt ceiling,” Paul said just before 1 a.m. on Friday.
There was pressure to strike a deal soon because of
two approaching deadlines — one fiscal, one political.
The Treasury Department has warned that the
government will run out of borrowing authority by Nov. 3 and a failure to raise
the debt ceiling could lead to an economy rattling default. The bill would
suspend the debt ceiling through March 2017.
The second deadline was the end of this month, when
former Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) planned to step down from Congress
after too many fights with a band of conservatives in his party.
Boehner said he wanted to “clean out the barn”
before handing over the gavel, rather than leave his successor with a pile of
messy budget business to handle just as they assumed the job. On Thursday, the
House elected Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) speaker, a day after the House passed
the budget agreement on a 266 to 167, which served as a coda to Boehner’s
tenure as speaker.
Conservatives in both chambers criticized the deal
both because it was hatched behind closed doors rather than through the
committee process and because they argued it is bad policy.
Many complained that the provisions in the bill
that are used to offset the cost of the new spending are gimmicks or promise
savings in the future for money the government will spend immediately.
Cruz criticized leaders for negotiating behind
closed doors and for agreeing to President Obama’s requests for additional
spending.
“This wasn’t a slapdash on a post-it note last
night,” Cruz said. “This represents days or weeks or months of
negotiations. This represents the Cartel in all of its glory because
this is the combined work product of John Boehner and Nancy
Pelosi and Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid.”
Once the bill is signed into law, the
Appropriations Committees will begin the process of writing an omnibus bill
that will determine how the funds will be spent. That process is expected to
take about a month and could be complicated if Republicans try to attach
controversial provisions, like defunding Planned Parenthood, to the
legislation.
Democrats have vowed to block any “poison-pill”
riders, which could create another spending standoff in December.
This story has been updated.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/10/30/senate-approves-two-year-bipartisan-budget-agreement/
