Before heading home for the holidays, the Senate on Saturday passed year-end budget deal. Sen. Bernie Sanders voted against the measure that raids the Social Security trust fund, fails to make millionaires pay their fair share, surrenders to Republican demands on the environment and seriously shortchanges the home heating aid program. Earlier in the week, the U.S. on Thursday officially ended its 9-year-old war in Iraq on the same day when Congress passed a massive Pentagon spending bill. Because it authorized nearly as much funding as during the war, Sanders voted no. Meanwhile, Bernie brought the postmaster general to the Capitol and won his agreement to hold off at least until May 15 on any post office closings.  

Saturday in the Senate

The Senate passed legislation Saturday that would extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for two months. The package included a provision demanded by Republicans to pressure the White House into approving construction of a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. Sanders voted no.  He favors tax cuts for working families, but said diverting billions of dollars from Social Security to provide that tax relief is wrong.  Negotiators dropped from the package a surtax on millionaires, something Sanders proposed in a bill that he introduced last March. He also is a leading critic of the oil pipeline and urged Obama to call the Republicans' bluff and reject project. Read more about why Sanders voted no. 

The End of the War in Iraq

The war in Iraq is about to end after almost nine years at a cost of about 4,500 American fatalities and $1 trillion. While all remaining U.S. troops are to leave Iraq by Dec. 31, a large number of U.S. civilian government workers and contractors will remain there.  In 2002, then-Rep. Sanders voted against giving President Bush a blank check to wage the war. Today, large majorities in the U.S. public favor the withdrawal from Iraq.

Defense Bill 

On the same day when the U.S. military officially ended the Iraq war, Congress on Thursday approved a $662 billion defense bill that authorized nearly as much Pentagon spending as last year.  The bill includes a controversial provision authorizing indefinite detentions of American terrorism suspects. Sen. Bernie Sanders was one of 13 senators who voted against the bill that he thought authorized too much spending and undermined civil liberties. Read his statement.

Spending Deal 

Congressional bargainers reached a tentative deal late Thursday on a $1-trillion spending bill. Negotiators were considering a two-month extension of an expiring cut in Social Security payroll taxes and unemployment benefits.  Democrats dropped a surtax on millionaires. "That`s not a good thing," Sanders said. "The wealthiest people have got to start paying their fair share of taxes." 

Postal Service Puts Cuts on Hold 

The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday agreed to hold off on closing nearly 4,000 post offices and sorting centers.  "What I feared very much is that the post office unilaterally would start making drastic cuts to processing plants, rural post offices and slow first-class mail service before Congress can pass postal reform," Sanders said.  He led negotiations with the postmaster general that led to the moratorium. Watch the Capitol Hill press conference.

Energy Research 

Sen. Sanders and Gov. Peter Shumlin on Monday announced a $15 million, three-year commitment to a new Center for Energy Transformation and Innovation at the University of Vermont.  The partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories has the potential to discover innovative ways to save energy, help the environment and boost the economy.

Solar Power 

A Senate panel on Thursday approved Sanders' 10 Million Solar Roofs Act to make solar power more affordable and to make it simpler for homeowners and businesses to get local permits.  "In many parts of the country it just takes forever for folks to be able to install solar panels ... and that means significantly added expense," he said at Senate energy committee markup session on the bill. A companion measure was filed Thursday in the House.

Saving Democracy 

There has been a groundswell of public support for a constitutional amendment to void a Supreme Court ruling that unleashed unlimited corporate cash in American political campaigns. The ruling two years ago in a case called Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission would be voided by the amendment proposed in the Senate by Sanders and in the House by Rep. Ted Deutch. Sign the petition. Watch Sanders introduce the amendment in the Senate.