President
Barack Obama is poised to
sign into law the first bipartisan budget produced by a divided Congress in 27
years, abating the fiscal discord that spurred a government shutdown in
October.
The
Senate on 18 December passed a $1.01 trillion budget deal easing $63 billion in
automatic spending cuts, raising user fees and lowering the U.S. deficit
over 10 years. The plan keeps in place about half of the spending cuts known as
sequestration for next year, and about three-quarters of the planned reductions
for 2015.
Nine
Republicans joined all Democrats to back the measure, which passed the Senate 64-36.
Neither
party liked the cuts, which in January would have pinched Pentagon spending as
well as domestic programs, setting the stage for a compromise at a time when
the two chambers have been incapable of agreeing on almost anything. Neither
party could find a way to erase them all in this compromise.
The
Deficit Disconnect
“It
is not going to solve every problem but it is a step in the right direction and
a dramatic improvement over the status quo,” Senator Patty Murray, a Washington
Democrat and chairman of the chamber’s Budget Committee, said before the vote.
“The American people are sick and tired of the constant crises we see out of
Washington.”
The
deal crafted by Murray and Representative Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican,
doesn’t include tax increases Republicans oppose or entitlement-program changes
that Democrats resist. It will help prevent another government shutdown for the
next two years, and Obama said he will sign it into law.
The
last time a divided Congress reached a budget agreement using its usual budget
process was in 1986, when Democrats controlled the House and Republicans ran
the Senate.
The
House on Dec. 12 passed the agreement 332-94, with backing from 73 percent of Republicans and 82 percent
of Democrats.
The
deal sets discretionary spending at $1.01 trillion for this fiscal year, higher
than the $967 billion in the 2011 budget plan, leading some Republicans to vote
against it. It raises fees, including for airline passengers, and cuts the
budget deficit by $23 billion over 10 years.
Groups
that advocate for limits on government spending criticized the agreement.