12 December 2014 - Congress approves $1 trillion spending package
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House approves $1 trillion spending package
Susan Davis (USA Today)
WASHINGTON — In a dramatic vote late Thursday evening, the U.S. House narrowly approved a $1 trillion government spending package despite a rare uprising from House Democrats. The bill passed on a 219-206 vote.
Congress was set to approve a two-day stopgap funding bill to give the U.S. Senate time to pass the package and get it to President Obama's desk. Government funding had been scheduled to run out at midnight.
House Democrats derailed plans Thursday afternoon for a vote on the funding bill after lawmakers rebelled over provisions tucked into the measure to roll back regulations on Wall Street and ease campaign finance laws.
The uprising created a rare moment of intraparty warfare, pitting the majority of House Democrats against President Obama. The president had announced support for the package because it includes many of his spending priorities, such as funds to combat the Ebola epidemic and Islamic State militants as well as more money for Pell Grants and early education programs.
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Shutdown averted
Staff (The Chicago Tribune)
Congress narrowly avoided another government shutdown Thursday night as a revolt among House Democrats nearly upended passage of a $1.1 trillion spending bill backed by President Obama.
With less than three hours to go until government funding expired, the House voted 219 to 206 - approving the bill by just one vote. Senators planned late Thursday to approve a two-day extension of current funding in order to give them more time to work through arcane procedural rules, pass the bill and cap the least productive congressional session in modern history.
The White House said that President Barack Obama supports the bill and would sign it, but criticized lawmakers for relaxing some Wall Street regulations and making an expansive change to campaign finance laws.
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Drama
Dan Roberts (The Guardian)
Republicans formed an unlikely alliance with the White House in a late-night scramble to pass a $1.1tn federal budget over the objections of House Democrats, who claim it has been hijacked by Wall Street lobbyists and campaign finance interests.
In dramatic scenes that mirrored the lead-up to the government shutdown of October 2013, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough spent three hours locked in talks with the House Democratic caucus on Thursday night trying to persuade its members to drop their opposition to the so-called “cromnibus” and pleading with them that it was the best deal available.
Eventually, with less than three hours to go until another government shutdown, House speaker John Boehner decide to gamble on receiving sufficient support from Democrats to overcome a rebellion on the right of his own party and called a final vote.
“Thank you and Merry Christmas,” said Boehner as he secured 219 votes, one more than he needed to guarantee passage and including support from 57 Democrats. The 206 no votes were bolstered by 67 Republicans, more than expected, who are angry that their party is not using the budget to challenge president Obama more aggressively on immigration reform.
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Revolt
Paul Kane (The Washington Post)
Congressional Democrats took a stand Thursday that ultimately failed but that will nevertheless reverberate next year both inside the Capitol and on the presidential campaign trail.
The populist anti-Wall Street faction, increasingly embodied by freshman Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), nearly took down a bill to fund the federal government in a revolt over a provision that would ease restrictions on risky trades by big banks.
For the Warren wing, what they see as siding with banks over average Americans is among the most unforgivable of sins, and the showdown exposed just how disruptive and demanding this populist bloc plans to be.
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"12 December 2014 - Congress approves $1 trillion spending package", La Clé des Langues [en ligne], Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029), décembre 2014. Consulté le 19/04/2024. URL: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/key-story/archives-revue-de-presse-2014/12-december-2014-congress-approves-1-trillion-spending-package