Congress OKs compromise budget deal to keep government open

Congress on Friday passed wide-ranging legislation to provide $1.14 trillion in government funding through September 2016 and $680 billion in tax breaks over a decade.

In the compromise measure, Republicans won the lifting of a 40-year ban on U.S. crude oil exports, although other controversial GOP proposals were not included, including ending federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, a key negotiator, swung forcefully behind the bill after showing frustration over its lifting of the oil export ban.

"They wanted big oil so much that they gave away the store," Pelosi said of the GOP. She cited successes such as higher domestic budgets and tax breaks for working families and renewable energy.

The White House, which helped negotiate the package, said President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law shortly after it was passed by Congress.

The Senate approved the measure after the House earlier Friday easily passed the spending bill by a 316-113 vote, removing any threat of the U.S. government shutting down or defaulting on debt obligations.

Republicans were evenly split with 27 of them voting in favor and 26 against the bill. Presidential contender Marco Rubio was absent. Only six Democrats and Independent Bernie Sanders, another presidential hopeful, voted against the measure.

It's a peaceful end in the House to a yearlong struggle over the budget, taxes, and Republican demands of the president.

Friday's action promises to finish up a surprisingly productive, bipartisan burst of legislation in a divided Congress.

The budget bill gives Obama many of the spending increases he's demanded all year. In exchange for ending the oil export ban, Democrats won extensions of tax breaks for alternative power sources such as solar and wind energy.

Many on each side saw the budget deal as the best they could get under divided government. The need to win Obama's signature helped rid the measure of most of the controversial Republican provisions: killing federal money for Planned Parenthood; limiting the flow of Syrian refugees; and undoing dozens of Obama actions on the environment, labor, financial regulation and relations with Cuba.

The measure received big majorities in the House from Republicans and Democrats. The measure won support from Republicans by a 150-95 margin. Democrats followed Pelosi's lead and backed the bill by a 166-18 margin.

After the Senate action, Congress planned to adjourn until January. 

Wire services