WASHINGTON—A dispute over budget cuts that threaten dozens of
smaller control towers with closure slowed Senate progress
Tuesday on legislation to avoid a government shutdown on March
27.  Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., refused repeatedly to permit
final passage of the measure unless Democrats first allow a vote
on his plan for erasing most of the cuts aimed at towers
operated by Federal Aviation Administration contract employees.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., just as persistently
declined to give in, and other Democrats noted that House
Republicans had rejected calls to give all federal agencies the
type of budget flexibility that Moran was seeking.  The test of
wills endured as Republicans and Democrats in Congress struggled
with two goals—ensuring there is no interruption of routine
government funding while simultaneously vying for political
advantage in the wake of $85 billion in across-the-board
spending cuts that kicked in earlier this month.  Across the
Capitol, the Republican-controlled House