Dems Seek $1T 'Swan Song' Budget

An uproar over spending may have spurred a midterm drubbing for Democrats, but they still aim to push through a $1 trillion budget bill during the lame-duck session that begins today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Washington is currently operating on a temporary budget that expires Dec. 2; Democrats hope to follow it with a budget that maintains current spending.

Dems aren’t going to let Republicans follow through on their budgetary goals—to cut domestic programs by $100 billion to bring the budget back to 2008 levels—before the new Congress begins. The 2011 budget they've been working on comes in at $1.108 trillion, the figure Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he’d back. That’s $20 billion less than what President Obama wanted, but less than 1% more than last year’s budget. Meanwhile, Obama is hoping to encourage GOP cooperation at a White House dinner this week.