House approves spending bill -- and skips town

The House early Thursday morning sent President Obama legislation that would fund the federal government through Dec. 3 at fiscal 2010 levels for most programs, as lawmakers afterward began heading home for the midterm elections.

The House passed the continuing resolution 228 to 194, a few hours after the Senate passed the measure Wednesday evening 69 to 30.

Both chambers will return the week of November 15 for a lame-duck session to wrap up the appropriations process for fiscal 2011 and tend to other unfinished business.

Debate on the bill was brief as members were eager to skip town.

"We have an obligation to do this," said House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., adding that failure to approve the measure would cause a government shutdown, which could hurt the fragile economic recovery. "The House ought to pass it." Obey is retiring at the end of this Congress.

His Republican counterpart, Appropriations ranking member Jerry Lewis of California, was applauded when he announced he would not deliver his prepared remarks, noting that members were eager to hit the road.

"Will Rogers ... said, 'never miss a good chance to shut up,' Lewis said.

In a statement, Lewis criticized the CR for spending too much. Lewis and other Republicans have been calling for a CR funded at fiscal 2008 levels, rather than the fiscal 2010 amounts the CR provides.