WASHINGTON: The US Senate approved its first budget resolution in four years yesterday after a marathon all-night voting session, setting up a political duel with the Republican-held House.
The sweeping plan for fiscal year 2014, the first budget blueprint passed by the Democrat-led Senate under President Barack Obama since 2009, squeaked past by the narrowest of margins, a 50-49 vote with no Republican support. “Doing this has been a Herculean feat,” said Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, noting the 100 amendments that were voted on in a 13-hour session known in the Senate as a “vote-a-rama.”
The plan, shepherded through by Senate Budget Committee chair Patty Murray, seeks nearly $1,000bn in new revenue over the next decade, mostly through the closure of tax loopholes that favour the wealthy.
The House of Representatives on Thursday adopted its own budget resolution, which seeks to reach balance within 10 years through significant reductions in federal spending, the overhaul of entitlements like Medicare and the repeal of Obama’s health care law. AFP
