House Passes Budget Bill

The unusual promise of a no-drama, no-shutdown deal on the federal budget just cleared its biggest hurdle: The modest two-year pact negotiated by Paul Ryan of the House and Patty Murray of the Senate cleared the full House of Representatives today by a vote of 332-94, reports the Washington Post. As expected, conservative members rejected the measure because it rolls back some of the sequester cuts, but not nearly enough to scuttle the deal. The Senate is expected to pass it next week.

The biggest point of friction today came from Democrats angry that the bill makes no provision to extend long-term unemployment benefits when they expire on Dec. 28, reports the Hill. Sandy Levin, D-Mich., accused Republicans of "skipping town" instead of addressing the issue, but Republicans countered that Democrats were "showboating" and that the long-term benefits were always intended to be temporary when they were put into place after the financial meltdown five years ago. (More Congress stories.)