The Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill on Thursday to fund federal agencies through September and deliver another major round of aid to Ukraine a day after the speech. Impressive emblem of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before a joint meeting of Parliament.
The receiptIt is 4,155 pages long, includes about $772.5 billion for domestic programs and $858 billion for defense, and will fund federal agencies through the end of the fiscal year at the end of September.
The bill passed 68-29 and will now go to the House of Representatives for a final vote before being sent to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
“This is one of the most important allocations we’ve done in a very long time,” Schumer said. “The range of people it helps is vast and profound,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. said the moments before the vote.
Lawmakers are racing to get the bill through before the partial government shutdown at midnight Friday, and many are anxious to complete the task before frigid and frigid weather conditions expose them to stuck in Washington for the holidays. Many also want to lock in government funding before the GOP-controlled New House next year which could make it harder to find a spending compromise.
Senators heard Zelenskyy talk about the importance of US aid to his country in its war with Russia on Wednesday night. The measure provides about $45 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to the devastated nation and its NATO allies, more than Biden even asked for, bringing the total to date. to over 100 billion dollars.
“Your money is not charity,” Zelenskyy told lawmakers and Americans watching at home. “It’s an investment in democracy and global security that we handle in the most responsible way.”
Lawmakers disagreed over which amendments should be voted on to close a final vote on an expedited basis. The deadlocks are likely to prevent passage of the bill before Friday’s midnight deadline. But overnight talks resulted in a breakthrough, and senators gathered early Thursday morning to discuss more than a dozen amendments before coming to a final vote.
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The spending bill was supported by Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, albeit for different reasons.
McConnell cited a bill to increase defense spending by 10%, which he said would give the US Armed Forces the funding and certainty needed to ensure the country’s security.
“The greatest military in the world will get the funding boost it needs, far beyond inflation,” McConnell said. “Meanwhile, non-defense, non-veterans spending will be below the inflation rate, for real dollar cuts.”
McConnell faced opposition from many disapproving Republicans Spending bill and outraged to be forced to vote on such a large package with so little time before the likely shutdown and Christmas break.
“There is not enough time for one person to read this entire bill. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky said: “The bill and process ignores soaring inflation, rising interest rates and our ballooning $31 trillion in debt. “Enough is enough.”
For the two senators, the bill will finish their job in Washington. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is retiring after approximately 48 years of serving in the Senate and is the current chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He negotiated the bill for months with Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, a high-ranking Republican on the committee who was elected to the Senate in 1986 and is also retiring.
“What a stepping stone to a brilliant career,” Schumer said.
The bill also includes about $40 billion in emergency spending in the United States, primarily to assist communities around the country recovering from droughts, hurricanes, and other natural disasters.
And, of course, it includes many of the policy changes unrelated to spending that lawmakers sought to include in Congress’s last major bill, otherwise they would be starting from scratch next year. coming in a divided Congress, where Republicans will return to a majority in the House.
One of the most notable examples is the historic amendment to the federal election law intended to prevent any future president or presidential candidate from attempting to overturn an election. The bipartisan review of the Vote Counts Act is a direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to oppose the vote. confirm Biden’s win on January 6, 2021.
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