U.S. Senate votes to approves $85 billion cuts, averts shutdown

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 | 7:23 p.m. CDT

WASHINGTON — The Senate approved legislation Wednesday to lock in $85 billion in widely decried spending cuts aimed at restraining soaring federal deficits — and to avoid a government shutdown just a week away. President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats rejected a call to reopen White House tours scrapped because of the tightened spending.

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