House Passes Bill to Fund Government

The House approved a $1.2 trillion bill to fund the federal government through the remaining nine and a half months of fiscal 2011.

The spending package incorporates a request from President Barack Obama for a two-year pay freeze for federal employees, though members of the military are exempted. House lawmakers voted 212-206, largely along party lines, to approve the legislation. No Republicans supported the bill, while 35 Democrats joined the minority party in opposing the measure. The spending bill contains big funding boosts for federal securities and futures regulators working to erect a regulatory regime for the over-the-counter derivatives market. The resolution would continue funding the federal government at fiscal 2010 levels, though there are some changes to individual agency budgets. The federal government's 2010 fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

The measure is necessary because Congress failed to pass a single one of the dozen spending bills that must be approved each year to set the budgets for the various departments and agencies of the federal government. Since the end of fiscal 2010, lawmakers have passed two short-term bills to avert a shutdown of the federal government. The latest of those expires on Dec. 18.

The Senate must still act on a spending measure. Aides said lawmakers in that chamber planned to introduce a different version in coming days. If senators decide to do so rather than take up the House bill, it could delay final passage of the spending legislation further.