US Senate overwhelmingly approves budget deal despite deficit fears

Steamrolling over the objections of fiscal conservatives and Democrats concerned about leverage, the US Senate approved a two-year budget deal in a 67-28 vote. The bipartisan accord raises the debt ceiling and makes government shutdowns far less likely through 2021.

President Donald Trump has already signaled he would sign the bill calling it “phenomenal” for the country and noting it would get him through the 2020 election, adding “there is always plenty of time to cut!”

Democrat critics of the bill worried that it was giving up their fiscal leverage over Trump, as the party currently controls the House of Representatives where all the spending bills originate. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), a Trump ally on foreign policy, also opposed the bill out of concerns over deficit spending and the $22 trillion and rising national debt.