House overcomes Tea Party opposition to pass short-term spending bill
Following a debate in which Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the nation’s out-of-whack balance sheets, the House today passed a bill to keep the federal government funded for another three weeks while cutting $6 billion from this year’s budget.
The bill’s passage came in spite of dissent from Tea Party Republicans who said they could not support piecemeal spending cuts. Additionally, they objected to another spending measure that did not revoke funding they find objectionable, such as funding for Planned Parenthood or President Obama’s health care reforms. Fifty-four Republicans voted against the measure today, as well as 104 Democrats.