The Senate passed its version of the $838 billion stimulus bill today, in a 61-37 vote, the Wall Street Journal reports. Three moderate Republicans—Susan Collins, Arlen Specter, and Olympia Snowe—jumped across the aisle to prevent a filibuster. Now the House and Senate must reconcile the differences between their bills, in the hope of getting it onto President Obama’s desk within a week.
The vote came as Barack Obama was stumping for the measure in Fort Myers, an area that’s been hard hit by the economic downturn. When Obama told the crowd the bill had passed, it erupted with cheers. (More economic stimulus package stories.)