US Senate passes bill to avert ‘fiscal cliff’ tax hikes

Vice President Joe Biden speaks following a Senate Democratic caucus meeting about the fiscal cliff on Capitol Hill on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012 in Washington. AP/Alex Brandon

WASHINGTON–Coming together in the early hours of 2013, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a last-gasp bill Tuesday to avert huge tax increases and draconian spending cuts making up the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

Lawmakers voted 89-9 to approve the measure, which now goes to the House of Representatives where it faces a less certain fate, although the chamber’s Republican Speaker John Boehner said he would bring the bill to the floor soon.