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Budget deal clears key Senate vote

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WASHINGTON — A bipartisan budget deal that reduces the risk of a government shutdown cleared a key vote Tuesday in the Senate as Republicans joined Democrats to boost the bill toward final passage.

The 67-33 vote, with the backing of 12 Republicans and all Democrats, overcame a filibuster led by tea party conservatives over the compromise that has deeply divided the GOP.

The $85-billion package crafted by Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was overwhelmingly approved by the House last week. Final Senate passage is set for Wednesday.

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“This won’t solve every problem,” Murray said on the Senate floor. “But it’s a step in the right direction and a dramatic improvement over the status quo.”

The deal could provide a pause in the budget wars that have created a cycle of crisis governing. It would increase spending by $63 billion for 2014 and 2015 and reverse some of the steep so-called sequester cuts that only the most conservative lawmakers want to keep. No new taxes are included, but fees would be imposed on airline travel, and cuts would be made elsewhere in the federal budget, including reductions to pensions for federal workers and military retirees. More than $22 billion would be applied to deficit reduction.

Conservative organizations that vehemently oppose the package put tremendous pressure on Senate Republicans, their last line of defense. The Senate procedural vote became a high-stakes battle between the Republican tea party wing and establishment conservatives.

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The Senate’s top GOP leaders -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the GOP whip -- both voted no. Both face primary-election challenges from the right next year.

For many Republicans, rolling back part of the sequester cuts would undermine their most tangible victory after the last several years of budget battles. It’s a compromise they are unwilling to make.

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Others chafed at the cuts to retirement pensions for uninjured, working-age military retirees, a provision the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), said would be reviewed next year.

Congress will need to approve a final bill to avoid a shutdown when funding for the government runs out Jan. 15. That vote is expected after the holiday recess.

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lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

Twitter: @lisamascaroinDC

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