Senate advances spending bill

The U.S. Senate took another step Tuesday to avoid a government shutdown ahead of November’s midterm elections. Lawmakers passed a wide-ranging spending bill that would fund the government through Dec. 7. The bill would raise spending in some areas, and it boosts the defense budget by $20 billion and provides nearly $3 billion more to fight the nation’s opioid crisis. But notably the bill puts off a battle over a border wall until after Election Day. President Donald Trump jabbed his own party on the issue over the weekend, tweeting, “When will Republican leadership learn that they are being played like a fiddle by the Democrats on Border Security and Building the Wall?” The bill passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 93-7, but it still has to clear the House of Representatives, which is expected to take up the measure next week.