Senate advances budget deal

A two-year budget deal overcame a procedural hurdle early Friday morning, paving the way for final passage.

Senators voted 63-35 to end debate on a deal to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling. Sixty votes were needed to move forward.

{mosads}While every Democrat supported the deal, the measure divided Republicans.

Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), all candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, voted against moving forward, while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), another White House contender, voted to advance it.

Conservatives have been quick to criticize the legislation, which passed the House on Wednesday.

Cruz slammed the deal and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for more than an hour on Thursday night, calling the Kentucky Republican the “the most effective Democratic leader we’ve seen in modern times.”

Paul added early Friday morning that the agreement “represents the worst of Washington culture.”

Under chamber rules, senators can debate the agreement for an additional 30 hours after the 1 a.m. vote, with any individual senator limited to one hour.

McConnell warned lawmakers that he would keep the Senate in session until it takes a final vote on the budget deal, no matter how long it takes.

“It’s my hope that the debate time will be extremely limited and that we’ll be able to move to a passage vote almost immediately after the 1 a.m. [vote],” he added. “The timing, however, is up to any individual senator who claims debate time after the 1 a.m. vote.”

The rare late-night session comes after McConnell teed up the procedural vote on Wednesday. Under Senate rules, the earliest the vote could have happened was 1 a.m. If senators had wanted to try to move up the vote, they would have needed the consent of every senator, including Paul, whose presidential campaign fundraised off dragging out the procedural clock by saying he was leading a “debt ceiling filibuster.”

Asked if there was any “frustration” from Republican lawmakers over the late vote, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) suggested that he would rather start voting at 1 a.m. versus staying through Friday.

“Most of us of have plans. … I’d rather do it tonight at 1 than tomorrow,” Corker — who is scheduled to travel to Bahrain — told reporters on Thursday afternoon.