On the eve of Veteran's Day, the Senate passed an $80 billion spending bill which increases funds for veterans' programs and military base construction projects. The Associated Press reported that the measure, which was delayed for months by fierce negotiations over the federal budget, is the first spending bill the Senate has passed all year.
The bill received unanimous support in a 93-0 vote. It will now proceed into House-Senate negotiations and probably join 11 additional spending bills as part of a massive $1.1 trillion budget vehicle. An extra $2 billion was added to the bill as part of the bipartisan budget agreement agreed to last month by President Obama and leaders of both parties on Capitol Hill. The Veterans Administration's budget for medical services, many of them covered under veterans insurance, was increased to $51 billion.
The measure was one of two military-related bills that went through the Senate on Tuesday. A revised National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) worth $607 billion passed in a 91-3 vote, according to The Hill. President Obama had originally vetoed the bill over concerns about new war funds, but it seems unlikely that the new bill, even with its language barring the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay – a campaign promise of the President's – will meet the same fate.