The Senate approved a sweeping $1.1 trillion spending bill Saturday night to fund most of the federal government through the next fiscal year.
A small group of conservatives, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), had tried to block debate on the bill by raising concerns with Obama's immigration policy, forcing a marathon weekend session. The move infuriated their colleagues, particularly Republicans who complained that forcing senators to stay in session produced nothing positive for the GOP and only helped Democrats in their bid to approve a final batch of Obama’s nominees for government posts.
For several hours Saturday, senators held procedural votes to begin the process of confirming dozens of Obama's nominees for federal judgeships and top positions at the State Department and other agencies.
The move forced members of both parties to abruptly cancel holiday and retirement festivities back home. Some senators slogged through the Capitol hallways with their young children in tow. Several skipped the Army-Navy football game in Baltimore. Staffers forced to work entertained out-of-town guests by giving them rare weekend access to the Capitol.
Prolonged debate on the spending bill, which passed on a 56-to-40 bipartisan vote, came after Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) late Friday night derailed a carefully crafted plan between party leaders to allow senators to go home for the weekend and return Monday to approve the spending agreement. The pair had sought to force a vote that essentially would block federal agencies from implementing the immigration policy changes ordered by Obama last month.
Read more at The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/spending-bill-forces-rare-weekend-session-for-the-senate-with-shutdown-hours-away/2014/12/13/81832bf6-82e8-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html?wpisrc=nl-headlines&wpmm=1