In addition, Congress passed a bill to overhaul the United States Postal Service and a Veterans’ Affairs package authorizing funds for major medical projects and information technology upgrades. Finally, the Senate confirmed Robert M. Gates as Secretary of Defense to replace Donald Rumsfeld, who stepped down the day following the elections. The 110th Congress reconvened on November 6, 2008, just two days after the election that gave Democrats wider majorities in both the House and Senate, and ushered in a new Democratic President. The November 6 session, however, along with 14 other sessions from then through January 2, 2009, continued a series of pro forma sessions of the Senate that began in October and were intended to foreclose opportunities for outgoing President George W. Bush to make recess appointments to Federal offices. The Senate met for substantive business on only seven days during the post-election period. The House, which had adjourned sine die, reconvened on November 19, pursuant to authority granted to its leadership in the adjournment resolution, but met on only five days during the post-election period. The main legislative business of the lame duck session involved further responses to spreading disruptions of the financial system that had become evident during the campaign period. Before the election, Congress had enacted P.L. 110-343, establishing a $700 billion package of aid to the financial services industry. In the lame duck session, Congress considered legislation to assist America's three largest auto-making companies which were in danger of bankruptcy. On December 10, the House passed H.R. 7321, which provided $14 billion in loans to automakers by using funds from an existing program. However, opposition in the Senate effectively prevented a vote on the measure. The President subsequently provided $13.4 billion in loans to the automakers out of funds from the financial industry aid package. Among the few other major measures that came up for a vote was a pension bill that postponed employee pension funding rules for companies and granted a moratorium on the annual distributions for retirement accounts as part of an effort to stave off lay-offs and assist retirees. During lame duck session of the 111th Congress, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 were both signed into law. The former ended the military's don't ask, don't tell policy, while the latter bill extended the Bush tax cuts for two years and extended unemployment benefits and a FICA payroll tax cut for one year. Democrats also tried to pass the DREAM Act, but the bill failed to pass the 60-vote hurdle needed to invoke cloture.