WASHINGTON -- Democrats controlling the House muscled through legislation Wednesday night that would freeze the budgets of most Cabinet departments and fund the war in Afghanistan for another year.
The bill would cap the agencies' annual operating budgets at the $1.2 trillion approved for the recently finished budget year -- a $46 billion cut of more than 3 percent from President Barack Obama's request.
It includes $159 billion to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq next year.
The 423-page measure, opposed by Republicans, conservative Democrats and some anti-war lawmakers, passed by a 212-206 vote. The budget-freeze bill wraps a dozen unfinished spending bills into a single measure.
The bill -- combined with a massive measure to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, extend unemployment benefits and cut the payroll tax -- represents the bulk of Congress' unfinished work as the lame-duck session approaches its close.
A widely backed food-safety bill is hitching a ride on the legislation. The measure passed the Senate by a 73-25 vote last week but got caught in a snag because it contained revenue provisions that, under the Constitution, must originate in the House.