The Senate voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to limit debate on a vast spending bill that would finance student aid, scientific research, and most other operations of the federal government for the 2007 fiscal year, which is already nearly half over. The vote, 71 to 26, will allow senators to complete work on the legislation, H.J. Res. 20, by Thursday, when a temporary spending measure expires.

The government has been largely run on the basis of such temporary measures since the fiscal year began, on October 1, because the Republican-run Congress last year failed to complete work on nearly all the budget bills for 2007. When the Democrats took control of Congress, in January, they decided to pass one huge spending bill to clear the table for consideration of President Bush’s 2008 budget, which he proposed last week.

The House of Representatives has already approved the 2007 measure, which would mostly follow the 2006 spending levels but would raise the value of the maximum Pell Grant and impose a one-year moratorium on earmarks, the controversial grants that members of Congress steer to colleges and other favored constituents.

The Senate is under pressure to pass the House’s measure unamended, so as to assure its enactment by Thursday. Today’s vote indicated that critics of the spending bill would not try to delay it through a filibuster, even though they have been prevented from amending the legislation.