(Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)The Senate voted Thursday to approve a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September, preventing a government shutdown. The five-month spending measure clears the way for Congress to begin talks over spending priorities for the fiscal year that begins in October. Democrats will again have some leverage in the upcoming spending talks because their votes will be necessary to approve any spending measure in the Senate. Republicans say their greatest victory was securing the additional $15 billion in defense money from an off-budget war fund. But not all lawmakers were happy with the relatively short-term spending measure.

Source: Washington Post May 04, 2017 18:07 UTC