WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread Republican defections against a bipartisan spending bill that Congress has sent President Barack Obama underscore GOP divisions between conservatives and pragmatists over the budget.
The House and Senate on Thursday approved a bill to avert a federal shutdown that would have occurred this weekend. It finances five Cabinet-level agencies.
It also blocks administration proposals to force schools to serve healthier lunches, while heading off a GOP effort to derail enforcement of last year's overhaul of financial market regulations.
Although supporters got the bill approved by a comfortable margin, more than 100 House Republicans and most GOP senators voted "no."
That seemed to echo similar GOP splits that are emerging over taxes. Some Republicans on Congress' bipartisan supercommittee have proposed some tax increases to help reduce the deficit.
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