June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Senate approval of $162 billion in war funding last night lets President George W. Bush keep his Iraq policy intact through the last days of his administration at the price of billions of dollars for domestic programs.

An 18-month feud over funding for the war in Iraq largely is ending in a draw: Bush got all the money he wanted to continue his military strategy and Democrats won an expansion of benefits for veterans and the unemployed among other initiatives.

By tying their priorities to Iraq spending, Democrats got a victory ``bigger than any they've had before on domestic issues,'' said Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas in Austin. ``The president did concede more than he would have in the past.''

At the same time, ``Congress has given the president everything he's asked for'' on the war, said Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior policy analyst for national security at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

The Bush administration consistently opposed attempts by Congress to add domestic spending to war funding legislation before eventually giving in to more than $100 billion for programs Democrats demanded. The last piece of war funding legislation, passed by the House last week, was approved 92-6 in the Senate and sent to the president, bringing to a close the battle between this administration and the Democratic majority in Congress over the war.

Iraq Restrictions

Attempts by Democrats to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq -- a central issue in their 2006 campaign to take control of both chambers in Congress -- were thwarted by Bush's veto pen or stymied in the Senate where the narrow 51-49 Democratic majority was unable to overcome Republican opposition.

Even less ambitious war policy proposals, such as setting political benchmarks for the Iraqi government, putting restrictions on U.S. interrogation methods or limiting the length of troop deployments either failed to win passage or were weakened to allow Bush to waive any requirements.

``This is not about a failure of the House of Representatives,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before passage. ``It's about what we cannot get past the next body and onto the next president's desk.''

The administration is claiming victory.

``We made no concessions with regard to the supplemental for our troops,'' White House Budget Director Jim Nussle said. ``About 18 months ago, the Democratic position was, take all of the money and use it to get out of Iraq.''

Policy Victories

Still, congressional Democrats can head into their re- election campaigns with a host of domestic trophies that likely will prove important in November.

The battle's been waged since last year. Starting with a $100 billion spending measure for the war sought by Bush in 2007, Democrats won an increase in the minimum wage, to $7.25 an hour from $5.15, and about $20 billion for programs including disaster relief, wildfire suppression and assistance to farmers.

Later that year, Democrats gave Bush an unrestricted $70 billion for the wars as part of a broader government spending bill that provided about $11 billion for low-income mothers, heating subsidies for the poor, drought relief and border fencing, among other initiatives.

Democrats won perhaps their biggest concessions from Bush on the legislation that is set to head to the president's desk after today's vote. To get more than $160 billion for the wars, Bush dropped opposition to an extension of unemployment insurance and new education benefits for veterans. Along with other programs included, the tab will be more than $71 billion over the next 11 years.

Getting Their Way

``Democrats got their way on a huge set of domestic initiatives,'' said John Fortier, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

The president and the Republicans did manage to thwart Democrats on domestic measures passed as stand-alone proposals, including easing restrictions on federal funding for stem-cell research and expanding a children's health insurance program.

The failure on Iraq War policy issues has angered anti-war activists who interrupted debate on the war-spending bill in the House, protested Democratic members of Congress who they felt weren't doing enough to end the war and even mounted a long-shot primary challenge against Pelosi.

``The problem is when people voted in 2006 they were hoping for a more radical change,'' said Lawrence Korb, an analyst at Washington's Center for American Progress, a public policy research organization.

Political Price

Still, the political price is likely to be higher for Republicans than Democrats.

Democrats are projected by independent analysts to gain seats in the House and Senate in this year's elections, and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, had a lead of 15 percentage points over Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona in a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll this week.

Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report, said actual accomplishments, like the unemployment compensation extension and the new benefits for veterans, will have a bigger impact on voters.

``People who are unhappy with Iraq policy are going to vote Democrat,'' Rothenberg said. ``It's better to show voters you can get something done.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net, or Catherine Dodge in Washington at Cdodge1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 27, 2008 11:10 EDT