WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans have passed the second of 12 spending bills for the upcoming budget year, a $35 billion measure funding the Energy Department and popular water projects constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers.
But the 240-177 tally fell short of the margin that would be required to overcome a promised veto by President Barack Obama. The White House and its Democratic allies say the measure shortchanges renewable energy programs like solar power and is studded with anti-environmental "riders."
The measure includes a big boost to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal and also contains money to keep the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste deposit in Nevada from being completely shuttered, a challenge to Senate powerhouse Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who's been largely responsible for blocking the project in the past.