US Senate Budget Vote: Lawmakers pass massive funding agreement
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The US Senate has passed a massive, bipartisan budget agreement and spending bill to reopen the shuttered federal government. The bill now moves to the House. Senators voted 71-28 to approve the deal, easily overcoming objections from Republican fiscal conservatives who say the measure marks a return to unchecked deficit spending. The bill stalled in the Senate on Thursday night when one of the opponents, Senator Rand Paul, refused to allow a speedy vote. Paul's protest forced Congress to miss a midnight deadline for passing a funding measure to keep the government operating.