Senate Greenlights $60B for Wars

The Senate is set to approve a $60 billion bill to fund the war in Afghanistan over the next four months. With broad bipartisan support, the measure cleared an important procedural hurdle on Thursday and could be voted on by Friday afternoon. The bill, which will mainly pay the costs of having troops in action, also includes a $68 million allocation of funds for Gulf Coast region relief efforts—and more is sure to follow. Republicans had tried to include provisions to send more National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and allocate a further $2 billion to border security, but both were voted down—the White House had already promised 1,200 troops and $500 million.