Senate rejects House funding plan

The Senate on Thursday rejected a House plan to pair a full year of defense funding with a short-term spending fix for the rest of the government.

Senators voted 55-44 on the plan, which needed 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle.

Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.), who are all up for reelection this year, voted to advance the legislation.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) also broke with her party and supported the measure.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) voted with Democrats against advancing the bill.

The outcome was widely expected after most Democrats warned they would not support the “cromnibus” — part continuing resolution (CR), part omnibus.

“To say our military needs help to the exclusion of all the other worthy causes is not fair to them and not good for America, and I have always argued [that] we can do both,” Sen. Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

{mosads}The vote, which was scheduled before lawmakers reached a budget deal, was widely viewed as a message to House Republicans that their preferred bill can’t pass.

The budget agreement would lift the spending caps by roughly $300 billion over two years. It would also raise the debt ceiling through March 2019 and keep the government open through March 23.

The Senate is expected to pass that plan later Thursday.

–This report was updated at 1:11 p.m.