WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The government would spend less on law enforcement, housing, scientific research and a range of other activities under a trio of bills approved on Tuesday by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Tuesday's 69-30 vote was a rare moment of progress after months of partisan budget battles that brought the government to the edge of a shutdown and the brink of default.
The high-stakes fight to approve government finances has delayed the annual task of funding everything from flood control to defense. The government is operating on a temporary extension of last year's budget that expires November 18.
The battle has also forced lawmakers to make do with less. Under this summer's debt-ceiling deal, Congress can spend a total of $1.043 trillion this year on discretionary programs -- $6 billion less than last year. That cap would tighten in the years to come, relative to inflation.
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The bills passed by the Senate reflect that new austerity.
State and local law enforcement agencies would face a 17 percent drop in federal aid, on top of the cutbacks they face in their own budgets. Police forces around the country will likely shrink for the first time in at least 25 years, Attorney General Eric Holder said last week.
Local governments would also get 15 percent less in community-development grants for low-income communities. A separate low-income housing program would be cut by 38 percent.
The National Science Foundation, which funds scientific research, faces a cut of 2.4 percent.
Budget hawks say the spending cuts are needed to tame the national debt and ensure that the country's formerly top-notch credit rating does not face any further downgrades.
A congressional "super committee" is due by the end of the month to recommend at least $1.2 trillion in further savings over 10 years.
But Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other economists have warned that austerity measures could weaken the still-struggling economy, while Democrats have been pushing for new spending to lower the 9.1 percent unemployment rate.
That legislation is effectively dead in Congress, but it is expected to play a significant role in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.
Senate lawmakers hope to resolve their differences on the three spending bills with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and have President Barack Obama sign them into law by then.
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Another temporary extension, lasting into December, will probably be needed for Congress to complete work on the other 9 bills.
Funding disputes between the House and the Senate have brought the government close to a shutdown twice this year -- once in April, when Congress struggled to complete work on the long-delayed spending bills, and again in September, due to a dispute over disaster spending.
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