The spending cut vote -- similar to onepassedby the House last year that went nowhere in the Senate -- was added to the docket later Thursday, to appeal to conservative legislators upset about backing a tax increase without acting on spending and protecting the military budget.
Debate raged for seven hours but as MPs in the elected House of Commons passed the order by a majority of two to one late last year, it will now become law.
An example of how this works: Tax bills must originate in the House, so the GOP in August dutifully passed legislation to avert the fiscal cliff by extending rates for oneyear.