Senate Approves $410B Omnibus Spending Bill; Obama Expected To Sign Measure

The Senate on Tuesday by voice vote approved an omnibus appropriations bill (HR 1105) that would fund most of the government through September, the Washington Post reports (Murray, Washington Post, 3/11). The measure includes the fiscal year 2009 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill and the eight other unapproved FY 2009 appropriations bills. The omnibus appropriations bill would fund departments and agencies from March 7 through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The House approved the bill last month (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/26). Before the voice vote, the Senate voted 62-35 to end debate on the measure (Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 3/10).

The bill now moves to President Obama, who is expected to sign it on Wednesday (Herszenhorn, New York Times, 3/11). The measure faced "widespread" criticism from Republicans over the number of earmarks included in the bill, as well as the cost of the measure, the Post reports. Democratic Sens. Russell Feingold (Wis.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) also opposed the bill because of the earmarks, and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) objected to its cost (Washington Post, 3/11). White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama would make an announcement on plans to curb earmarks in the future (New York Times, 3/11).

Since October 2008, the federal government has operated under a continuing resolution that funded most Cabinet departments and federal agencies at FY 2008 levels until March 6 (Pierce/Brady, Roll Call, 3/10). Because the omnibus was not approved by the March 6 deadline, Congress and Obama were forced to approve another continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown (Elliott, AP/Kansas City Star, 3/11).

NPR's "Morning Edition" on Wednesday reported the on Senate approval of the omnibus spending bill (Cornish, "Morning Edition," NPR, 3/11).

FY 2010 Budget
In related news, Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) at a hearing on Tuesday said significant changes will have to be made to Obama's FY 2010 budget proposal for the Senate to adopt a budget resolution this year, CQ Today reports. The budget resolution, which does not require Obama's approval, serves as a blueprint for congressional committees when drafting appropriations bills, which do require Obama's approval.

According to Conrad, there is growing concern among Senate Democrats about some of Obama's proposals, including plans to limit tax deductions and let former President George W. Bush's tax cuts for higher-income U.S. residents expire to help pay for the $634 billion health care reserve fund included in his proposal. Conrad said, "I have colleagues coming to me now every day. Every time I go to the floor, another colleague comes and sits down beside me and says, 'If this is in, don't count on my vote,'" adding, "I've had enough colleagues now tell me that about enough provisions in this budget to be absolutely sure we can't pass the budget." Conrad said, "We've got an obligation to take what the administration has sent us. We have great respect for it, but you know, we have a responsibility here, too. And if we don't get the votes, it's kind of an empty exercise."

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, who testified at the hearing, said of Obama's proposals, "We went through a policy process, we think this reflects our best judgment and we look forward to working with you to get to a budget resolution." He added that the administration "prefer[s]" not to use the budget reconciliation process to move health reform (Clarke, CQ Today, 3/10).