US Senate passes debt limit, budget bill, sends to Obama

WASHINGTON: The US Senate passed legislation early on Friday extending government borrowing authority until March 15, 2017, and locking in a two-year budget plan to increase military and domestic spending by $80 billion.

The measure now moves to President Barack Obama for signing into law before a November 3 deadline, when the Treasury Department has said it would exhaust the last of its borrowing capacity and begin to run short on funds to meet US payment obligations.