US Senate Set to Approve Huge 2013 Spending Bill

The Senate appears set to approve a huge, bipartisan spending bill to keep the government running through September and ruling out the chance of a government shutdown later this month.

The meatpacking and poultry industries seemed likely to win a vote offering relief from furloughs of inspectors that threaten to intermittently shutter plants as the measure moves ahead through the Senate and back to the House. A vote in the House Thursday would send the measure to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The developments come as the House resumed debate on the budget for next year and beyond. Republicans are pushing a plan that promises sharp cuts to federal health care programs and domestic agency operating budgets as the cost of balancing the budget in a decade.

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