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Congress cleared a $1.1 trillion spending bill for President Barack Obama's signature after a day of Senate intrigue capped by a failed, largely symbolic Republican challenge to the administration's new immigration policy.

The vote late Saturday night was 56-40 in favor of the measure, which funds nearly the entire government through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. It also charts a new course for selected shaky pension plans covering more than 1 million retirees, including the possibility of benefit cuts.

The Senate passed the bill on a day Democrats launched a drive to confirm two dozen of Obama's stalled nominees to the federal bench and administration posts, before their majority expires at year's end.

Several Republicans blamed tea party-backed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for giving the outgoing majority party an opportunity to seek approval for presidential appointees, including some that are long-stalled.

It was Cruz who pushed the Senate to cast its first vote on the administration's policy of suspending the threat of deportation for an estimated four million immigrants living in the country illegally. He lost his attempt Saturday night, 74-22, although Republican leaders have vowed to bring the issue back after the party takes control of the Senate in January.

"If you believe President Obama's amnesty is unconstitutional, vote yes. If you believe President Obama's amnesty is consistent with the Constitution, vote no," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rebutted instantly, saying Cruz was "wrong, wrong, wrong on several counts," and even Republicans who oppose Obama's policy abandoned the Texan.

The spending bill, which cleared the House on Thursday, was the main item left on Congress' year-end agenda, and exposed fissures within both political parties in both houses.

It faced opposition from Democratic liberals upset about the repeal of a banking regulation and Republican conservatives unhappy that it failed to challenge Obama's immigration moves.

While the legislation assures funding for nearly the entire government until next fall, it made an exception of the Department of Homeland Security. Money for the agency will run out on Feb. 27, when Republicans intend to try and force the president to roll back an immigration policy that removes the threat of deportation from millions of immigrants living in the United States illegally.

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Obama Getting $1.1 T Spending Bill From Congress

Rand Paul in Jackson
A US senator who may run for president 20-16 is in the Capitol City Subscribe to WAPT on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1hYcJNa Get more Jackson news: h...

By: 16 WAPT News Jackson

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Rand Paul in Jackson - Video

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has filed a bill seeking to repeal President Obama's executive order that delays deportation of five million immigrants, the Courier Journal reported Saturday.

Paul's bill, Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act, is companion legislation to a House bill passed last week from Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.)

"I believe that the Constitution is clear that the legislative power resides in Congress," Paul said in a statement. "The President is not a king and he does not have the power to enact laws then execute his own laws. Our Constitution is being violated by this executive order and other actions by the Obama Administration to govern by executive fiat.

Yoho's bill passed last week in a 219-197 vote, the House's first direct action against Obamas executive actions on immigration.

See more here:
Rand Paul introduces bill to undo Obama's immigration order

Buhari and Jonathan

The emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan and a former military Head of State, General Mohammadu Buhari (retd), as presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress respectively have set the stage for a political war among various ethnic and cultural groups in the country.

SUNDAY PUNCH enquires showed that while some of the groups have taken decisions to queue behind either Jonathan or Buhari, others are in the process of taking decision on whom to support.

This is happening even as some of the groups have, however, chosen to be neutral.

Buhari is the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate for the February 2015 election.

He defeated four other APC aspirants: Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rochas Okorocha and Sam Nda-Isaiah to clinch the partys ticket at a national convention/primary that held Thursday in Lagos.

His victory sets him yet again as the number one challenger to President Goodluck Jonathan, who on Wednesday was formally handed the Peoples Democratic Party flag for the 2015 presidential election without having to contend with any opponent in the party.

The Ijaw National Congress told SUNDAY PUNCH it would support President Goodluck Jonathans bid for a second term in office. It said its decision was based on the performance of the President.

The INC spokesman, Mr. Victor Borubo, said the congress had compared Jonathans performance with that of past presidents and came to the conclusion that he (Jonathan) deserved a re-election.

Apart from the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan is a son of the Niger Delta people and we will naturally vote for him, he is the only President that has been so criticised and yet did not harass anybody or send assassins against anybody, Borubo added.

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2015: Voting may follow ethnic lines

The All Progressives Congress candidate for Obokun State Constituency to the Osun State House of Assembly in the 2015 election, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has described his emergence as divine intervention and the goodwill of men.

In a statement on Saturday, Oyintiloye also attributed his emergence to the maturity of co-aspirants and his own dedication to grassroot development.

He said this after he was declared the partys candidate for the constituency on Wednesday.

He said, This is a lesson that when you exercise unflinching commitment to leadership, party and the people and you contribute to the development of your party and at the grass root, there would also be a moment of remembrance.

So, my emergency is as a result of dedication, service to the people and having an impact on the grass root.

Oyintiloye, who further described his emergence as a call to value added service, said with the collaboration of other aspirants and members of the party, he was sure of the victory in the 2015 election.

He commended the maturity and understanding of other aspirants, party leaders and members, pledging that he would do everything possible to protect the interest of all and work with all stakeholders to win the poll for the APC.

He promised to give quality representation to the people of his constituency if he eventually emerged winner at the general election.

Oyintiloye noted that he accepted to take the baton from a colleague, who had contributed his quota in the Assembly to raise the flag of the party higher and defend the cause of the defenceless.

My emergence is a product of collective success, collective efforts and collective labour; its not about Oyintiloye, its about the fortune of our party, the betterment of our constituency and raising the profile of all the stakeholders, he added.

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My emergence, call to greater service -Osun APC candidate