US Senators at loggerheads over spending bill

Leaders in the US Senate have postponed a final vote on a $1.1 trillion (880 billion euro) federal spending bill, with conservatives wanting to use the delay to try and amend some of the measures it contains.

Republicans have signalled that they would delay the vote to Monday or later, which would make it necessary for the Senate to approve an extension of funding to avoid a government shutdown. Funding is otherwise due to expire at midnight Saturday local time.

The House of Representatives, which narrowly approved the spending bill on Thursday, also passed a funding extension until next Wednesday in anticipation of problems in the Senate, but this deal has not yet been finalized there.

The Senate is scheduled to convene again on Saturday, when it is expected to vote for the extension. Both parties have pledged to avoid a shutdown like the one that crippled the government from October 1 through October 16 2013.

Successful compromise?

Among other things, conservative Senators are angry that the spending bill upholds recent unilateral action by President Barack Obama to protect millions of immigrants from deportation.

The Republicans will take full control of Congress in January after sweeping victories in last month's midterm elections. This led Obama to make a number of concessions, fearing an even more watered-down version if the current bill failed.

The bill notably includes a cut to the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency of $60 million.

Calling it the bill a classic compromise produced by a divided government, Obama admitted that, "Had I been able to draft my own legislation and get it passed without any Republican votes I suspect it'd be slightly different."

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was less upbeat about the bill, calling it the result of legislative blackmail by House Republicans.

The measure would fund nearly every Cabinet agency up to the end of the current fiscal year on September 30, 2015. It contains increases for health research, securities regulation and foreign aid.

tj/es (AFP, AP, Reuters)