Legislation easily passed the US House of Representatives on Wednesday to avert another partisan budget battle and a possible government shutdown, and a dinner meeting between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans offered signs of a thaw in relations.
By a vote of 267-151, the House passed a measure to fund government programs until the end of the fiscal year on 30 September. The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to pass a similar bill next week.
Without such legislation, federal agencies would run out of money on 27 March. The bill to continue funding the government without last-minute drama occurred as Obama took the unusual step of inviting Republican senators to a dinner on Wednesday night at a Washington hotel a few blocks from the White House that lasted about an hour and a half.
Attendees emerged optimistic about the prospects for the elusive big deal to put the nation’s finances on a more sustainable track in a way that satisfies both Democrats and Republicans.
An administration official said before the dinner that Obama had been hoping to take advantage of a lull in a series of budget crises to launch a dialogue with Republican lawmakers with the goal of reaching a broad deficit reduction deal.
While the meal was not intended to be a negotiation, it was an opportunity for Obama to make clear he is willing to consider some difficult spending cuts that are unpopular with his fellow Democrats in Congress, the official said.
Those could include cuts to programs that include the Social Security pension system and Medicare for the elderly.
By a vote of 267-151, the House passed a measure to fund government programs until the end of the fiscal year on 30 September. The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to pass a similar bill next week.
Without such legislation, federal agencies would run out of money on 27 March. The bill to continue funding the government without last-minute drama occurred as Obama took the unusual step of inviting Republican senators to a dinner on Wednesday night at a Washington hotel a few blocks from the White House that lasted about an hour and a half.
Attendees emerged optimistic about the prospects for the elusive big deal to put the nation’s finances on a more sustainable track in a way that satisfies both Democrats and Republicans.
An administration official said before the dinner that Obama had been hoping to take advantage of a lull in a series of budget crises to launch a dialogue with Republican lawmakers with the goal of reaching a broad deficit reduction deal.
While the meal was not intended to be a negotiation, it was an opportunity for Obama to make clear he is willing to consider some difficult spending cuts that are unpopular with his fellow Democrats in Congress, the official said.
Those could include cuts to programs that include the Social Security pension system and Medicare for the elderly.