The U.S. Senate has passed a $1.1-trillion government-wide spending bill that highlights fissures inside both political parties in an era of divided government.
The bill now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature.
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Lawmakers in both parties said the $1.1 trillion spending measure eventually would pass, and Obama has said he will sign it. It faced opposition from some Democrats upset about provisions that would roll back bank regulations imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and Republican conservatives unhappy that it failed to challenge Obama's new immigration policy.
The fight over the spending bill reflects the Republicans' new leverage after their sweeping victories in last month's midterm elections. They will have control of the Senate and a stronger majority in the House of Representatives when the new Congress convenes in January.
The $1.1-trillion spending bill, the main item left on the current Congress's agenda, provides funds for nearly the entire government through the Sept. 30 end of the current budget year.
The sole exception is the Department of Homeland Security, which is funded only until Feb. 27. Republicans intend to try then to force Obama to roll back his immigration policy that removes the threat of deportation from millions of immigrants living in the United States illegally.
Immigration was the issue that Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a favourite of the ultraconservative tea party movement, cited late Friday when he tried to challenge the spending bill with a proposal to cut funds that could be used to implement Obama's executive actions on immigration.
Cruz blamed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, saying his "last act as majority leader is to, once again, act as an enabler" for the president by blocking a vote on Obama's policy that envisions work visas for an estimated five million immigrants living in the country illegally.
That led to the unravelling of an informal bipartisan agreement to give the Senate the weekend off. It also gave Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed a chance to call an all-day Senate session Saturday devoted almost exclusively to the work of confirming about 20 of Obama's nominees to judicial and administration posts.
Republicans tried to slow the nomination proceedings, but several voiced unhappiness with Cruz, a potential presidential candidate in 2016. One likened his actions to his role in precipitating a 16-day partial government shutdown more than a year ago.
"I've seen this movie before, and I wouldn't pay money to see it again," Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said between seemingly endless roll calls.
Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz suggested Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, left, and House Speaker John Boehner should not be trusted to keep their pledge to challenge President Barack Obama's immigration plan when Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress in January. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)
Asked whether Cruz had created an opening for the Democrats, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said, "I wish you hadn't pointed that out. You should have an end goal in sight if you're going to do these types of things and I don't see an end goal other than irritating a lot of people."
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, made no public comment on the events, even though Cruz suggested Friday night that McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner should not be entirely trusted to keep their pledge to challenge Obama's immigration policy in January.
Many Democrats, including Obama, recognize that if the current spending bill fails, Republicans would pass an even more objectionable one when they take full control of Congress next month. Obama called the bill a classic compromise produced by "the divided government that the American people voted for."
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