House Fails to Override Veto of Spending Measure Including Student-Aid Funds

The U.S. House fell just a handful of votes short of the necessary two-thirds required to override President Bush’s veto of an appropriations bill that includes fiscal-2008 funding for key federal student-aid programs. The override attempt failed on a vote of 277-141.

The president vetoed the legislation, which includes annual appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, because the bill “puts a balanced budget in jeopardy and risks future tax increases.”

Included in the funding package was discretionary funding to increase the maximum Pell Grant to $4,925.

Congressional Democrats next month are expected to introduce a compromise omnibus spending bill, combining funding from all outstanding appropriations bills. Democrats say they will attempt to address some of the president’s concerns about spending levels proposed in the original appropriations bills.