the push to reinstate the Iraq money , called its approval `` a very powerful bipartisan message of support for our men and women serving in Iraq . '' White House officials have said Bush would sign the spending plan if the Iraq money was added . In the weeks leading up to the vote , Bush had repeatedly pushed members of Congress to approve a military spending bill that did not place troop-withdrawal requirements on the military in Iraq . The bill wraps together 11 of the 12 government spending bills for 2008 -- except for that of the Department of Defense , which was already funded . Facing a president determined to keep spending in check and a unified Republican minority in the House and Senate , Democrats have been stymied at nearly every turn in their attempts to increase spending on their domestic priorities . Fearing a politically dangerous government shutdown , Democratic leaders ultimately gave in to Bush 's top line number and trimmed $ 22 billion from the measure . But Democrats stemmed their losses somewhat by shifting some funding from the president 's priorities to their own . And they added billions more above
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- After months of stalemate , the Senate late Tuesday passed a huge government spending bill that includes billions of dollars requested by President Bush to continue the war in Iraq . White House officials have said President Bush would sign off on the spending plan if the Iraq money was added . The roughly $ 555 billion bill -- which passed 76-17 -- also preserves thousands of earmarks for lawmakers who will deliver them to constituents just in time for the holidays . The final vote came at about 11 p.m. ET Tuesday -- after hours of debate that included two more attempts by Senate Democrats to tie war funding to a plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq . Those efforts failed , as have dozens of others in the House and Senate since Democrats took control of Congress last year . Earlier , members voted to add $ 40 billion for the war in Iraq that had been removed by the House -- which passed the spending bill on Monday . The plan also includes $ 30 billion for troops in Afghanistan . Sen. Joe Lieberman , an independent from Connecticut who co-sponsored