U.S. Congress passes two-week spending bill
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U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to fund the federal government for two more weeks, a day after the House of Representatives approved the measure.
The Senate voted 91-9 to approve the legislation, which will cut federal spending by 4 billion dollars during the two weeks through March 18.
The bill also gained bipartisan support when the House voted on it Tuesday with more than 100 Democrats joining Republicans in approving it. The bill will now go to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The Congress failed to pass Obama's budget request for the current fiscal year beginning last October. The federal government has been running under a stopgap measure, formally known as continuing resolution, which expires on Friday.
The spending cuts demanded by the new measure are considered to be the easiest part as most of the cuts are so-called earmarks, which were criticized by both parties, as well as spending cuts already endorsed by the White House.
Even though a government shutdown was averted for now, the bitter negotiation around how to fund the federal government during the remaining seven months of the current fiscal year will go on.
The Republican-led House last month passed a bill that would cut more than 60 billion dollars from federal budget over the second half of this fiscal year. But it was strongly opposed by Democrats.
In a statement issued after the Senate vote, Obama welcomed Congress' move in passing the legislation, and urged both parties to find long-term solution to this budget fight.
"Living with the threat of a shutdown every few weeks is not responsible, and it puts our economic progress in jeopardy," said Obama. "That's why I'm calling on Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress to begin meeting immediately with the Vice President, my Chief of Staff, and Budget Director so we can find common ground on a budget that makes sure we are living within our means."
The president also stressed that "this agreement should cut spending and reduce deficits without damaging economic growth or gutting investments in education, research and development that will create jobs and secure our future."
