Senate votes to reopen gov't, avoid default; House vote expected later

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http://www.komonews.com/news/national/Senators-seek-budget-deal-House-GOP-effort-flops-228003851.html

Racing to meet a deadline, the Senate passed and sent to the House legislation Wednesday night to avoid a threatened national default and end the 16-day partial government shutdown along the strict terms set by President Barack Obama.

The vote was a bipartisan 81-18. Expected approval later in the evening in the House would clear it for Obama's signature — the final act in an epic political drama that put the economy's health at risk.

The legislation would permit the Treasury to borrow normally through Feb. 7 or perhaps a month longer, and fund the government through Jan. 15. More than two million federal workers would be paid — those who had remained on the job and those who had been furloughed (temporary unpaid leave).

"The compromise we reached will provide our economy with the stability it desperately needs," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, declaring that the nation "came to the brink of disaster" before sealing an agreement.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who negotiated the deal with Reid, emphasized that it preserved a round of spending cuts negotiated two years ago with Obama and Democrats. As a result, he said, "government spending has declined for two years in a row" for the first time since the Korean War. "And we're not going back on this agreement," he added.

Only a temporary truce, the measure set a timeframe of early next winter for the next likely clash between Obama and the Republicans over spending and borrowing.