Arizona Sen. John McCain said there are problems with the budget agreement approved on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, but that it had to be passed.
“This is a small step for a good agreement that will achieve many things but most of all prevention of a shutdown of the government, again, which we should not and cannot inflict on the American people," said McCain.
The budget scales back across-the-board cuts to programs ranging from the Pentagon to the national park system. McCain said the compromise plan, passed with bipartisan support, represents the essence of what lawmakers are supposed to do.
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake voted against the measure, saying he could not support trading spending increases today for spending cuts years from now.