Obama
wins debt-limit, budget truce through end of presidency
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[October 30, 2015]
By David Lawder and Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack
Obama won passage by the Congress early on Friday of legislation that
lifted the threat of a default on government debt through the end of his
presidency and a budget blueprint easing strict spending caps through
September 2017.
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The Senate voted 64-35 to approve the measure, which was
negotiated over the past few weeks by the White House and
congressional leaders, including newly retired former House Speaker
John Boehner.
Obama is expected to sign the bill into law promptly.
Without action by Congress, the Treasury Department would have
exhausted the last of its borrowing capacity on Nov. 3, according to
Secretary Jack Lew. That, in turn, risked a default on U.S.
obligations within days that would roil global financial markets.
The two-year budget provision provides new top-line spending levels
for Congress for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 and the one
starting Oct. 1, 2016.
It loosens budget caps, allowing an additional $80 billion in
spending on military and domestic programs over the two years.
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But lawmakers still need to allocate that money among thousands of
budget line items. They face a Dec. 11 deadline, when existing
spending authority by government agencies expires, and a spirited
fight is expected.
Conservative Republicans are likely to try to attach some
controversial policy add-ons, such as prohibiting funding for
women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood to punish it for its
abortion activities.
Some may also try to undo "Dodd-Frank" Wall Street reforms enacted
after the 2008-09 financial crisis or prohibit new regulations on
carbon emissions.
During Senate debate on Thursday, conservatives railed against the
budget and debt limit bill.
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Republican Senator Rand Paul, who is running for president,
complained in a floor speech: "The right's going to get more
military money. The left's going to get more welfare money. The
secret handshake goes on and the American public gets stuck with the
bill."
Senator Ted Cruz, a rival Republican presidential candidate,
returned to Washington from the campaign trail to accuse Republican
majorities in Congress of "handing the president a blank credit card
for the remainder of his tenure."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican who helped
negotiate the bill, praised the measure for rejecting tax increases
and noted that the added spending would be offset by savings
elsewhere in the government.
He also said it would "enact the most significant reform to Social
Security since 1983." The estimated $168 billion in long-term
savings from the program would be achieved by clamping down on
medical fraud and excess claims associated with disability benefits.
See Factbox:.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, editing by Larry King)
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