The Senate passed a federal budget on Wednesday that would finance the government through 2015 and help avoid a potential shutdown until the end of that year. It passed by a vote of 64-36 after the House overwhelmingly sent it through last week, 332-94.
Federal spending in 2014 would be capped at $1.012 trillion; the total budget includes $63 billion in sequester relief and savings of $85 billion.
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The deal, which was brokered by House Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senator Patty Walsh (D-Wash.), doesn't shrink the country's debt or lessen federal spending, which Republicans were in favor of. But it doesn't raise taxes or put money back in domestic programs, either, both of which Democrats had hoped for. In the end, it's "something for everyone to dislike," as put by the Los Angeles Times.
On a more personal level, the plan will make plane flights a bit more expensive due to an increase in the post-9/11 security fee; government workers will have to put more of their salary toward their pensions; and anyone already unemployed for six months or longer will not receive extended benefits. Soldiers will also receive less money in their cost-of-living allowances.
Though many politicians have said the deal does not represent anything either side would have passed on its own, it is an agreement that should allow the government to avoid functioning on emergency funds for at least the next two years. After the House passed it last week, even President Barack Obama said in a statement that this agreement shows Washington, D.C., really can get things done.
Now Congress must pass a measure that better articulates the spending plan, and do it by Jan. 15, 2014.
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