federal budget

Passing the spending package took intense lobbying from the president to get 60 Democrats on board, and persistence by soon-to-be-Speaker John Boehner to fend off the most Republican representatives.

Material tacked onto the authorization bill adds 250,000 acres of new wilderness, expands national parks, and moves toward a national women's history museum. 'Ethically, it stinks,' says Sen. Coburn.

Since the GOP retook the House, the chamber once brought the country to the brink of a debt default and once shut down the government. But in election years, including this one, there's no such drama.