WASHINGTON — Brushing aside concerns about deepening the budget deficit, U.S. lawmakers approved $1.8 trillion worth of federal spending and tax breaks Friday in a rare show of bipartisan cooperation after years of damaging fiscal fights in Congress.
The Senate voted 65-33 to approve sweeping legislation that averted a government shutdown, locked in billions of dollars of tax breaks and scrapped a 40-year-old ban on the export of U.S. oil.
It was a win for new House Speaker Paul Ryan, who managed to keep fiscal hawks in his Republican caucus under control during weeks of talks and avoid the kind of infighting that plagued his predecessor, John Boehner.
President Barack Obama signed the measure into law later Friday in a low-key Oval Office ceremony witnessed by photographers.
At more than 2,000 pages long, the spending portion of the bill funds the government through next September, preventing a shutdown like the one in 2013 and taking difficult budget disputes off the table as the 2016 presidential campaign enters the primary season.
Dozens of previously temporary tax breaks will now be permanent under the tax segment of the bill, which will cost $680 billion over 10 years and was promoted by corporate lobbyists and low-tax Republicans.
Middle-class Americans also gain. Students, low-income parents and teachers will receive tax aid, attracting support for the legislation from the White House and congressional Democrats.
The bill also includes three key provisions written by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to benefit small businesses. Collins expressed her support for the bill in a statement Friday.
“Small business owners across Maine and throughout our country tell me repeatedly that the constant change and uncertainty in our tax code have hindered their ability to invest and create new, good-paying jobs,” Collins said. “I am so pleased that these three critically important tax incentives have been included in the tax-relief bill that passed the Senate with my support this afternoon. These crucial provisions will provide the incentives and the certainty required for our small businesses to successfully create jobs and grow our economy.”
Sen. Angus King. I-Maine, also voted in favor of the bill, but had reservations about its costs and the manner in which the bill was passed.
“By passing this bill, we’ve avoided another government shutdown, managed to extend or enhance several tax provisions important to Maine families and businesses, and given our economy some semblance of calm and predictability for the coming fiscal year. But unfortunately, the tax provisions in this bill are a short-term solution to a long-term problem,” said King. “We cannot continue to mortgage our children’s future with these massive, last-minute agreements — even though this negotiating process was more deliberate and inclusive than it has been in the past.”
In the House, Reps. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, voted for the bill. Poliquin later expressed disappointment at the lack of transparency in negotiations for the spending package, but asserted that the bill had many elements that would help Mainers.
“This bill will bolster our national security, repeal and delay key elements of Obamacare, act to combat the terrible and growing problem of drug abuse and addiction in our state, support our mills and paper producers, and ensure that our service personnel, active and retired, are fully supported,” Poliquin said.
Lawmakers also lifted a four-decade-old ban on U.S. crude oil exports, a historic move that nevertheless will have little immediate effect on oil markets.
Some Republicans worry that the $1.15 trillion spending bill adds to the federal budget deficit and erodes the fiscal discipline that House Republicans have championed, particularly since lawmakers aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement did well in 2010 congressional elections.
But Tea Party momentum has slowed as the federal deficit drops from its peak of $1.41 trillion in 2009 due to the economic recovery. The deficit was $439 billion for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30.
The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the legislation passed Friday will increase the 2016 fiscal year budget deficit by $157 billion and by $95 billion in 2017.
Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a leading House Republican fiscal hawk, said the bill was “an early Christmas present for Donald Trump,” the billionaire businessman seeking the Republican presidential nomination, because it will fuel the anti-establishment mood in the country.
Conservatives complained that Republican leaders agreed on the bill’s spending and tax provisions behind closed doors and then rushed the bill through the Senate on Friday morning.
“A rotten process yields a rotten result, and this 2,000-page, trillion-dollar bill is rotten to its core,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said. “Corporate lobbyists had a field day, but working Americans lost out.”