The Senate on Thursday approved a $1.7 trillion spending bill that would fund the government for most of the next year, The Washington Post reports.
The Senate voted 69-29 in favor of the bill, with more than a dozen Republicans joining the chamber’s Democrats.
The House is expected to vote on the bill on Friday.
“The world’s greatest military will get the funding increase that it needs, outpacing inflation. Meanwhile, nondefense, non-veterans spending will come in below the rate of inflation, for a real-dollar cut,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday.
Democrats pushed hard to avoid a continuing resolution to fund the government for a short period of time.
“To go to a [continuing resolution] or even worse, a government shutdown, would be a huge disservice at any time, and particularly at holiday season, to the American people,” he said.
Details:
The bill includes $858 billion for defense, a 9.7% increase.
It also provides $772 billion for government spending on non-defense and non-military programs, a 5.5% increase.
The bill includes $45 billion in additional aid to Ukraine.
The legislation also ends a COVID-era Medicaid policy that blocked states from dropping individuals, reform of the Electoral Count Act to prevent another Jan. 6, and tax provisions aimed at preventing fraudulent tax breaks.
The bill also provides $38 billion for emergency disaster assistance, an additional $25 million for the National Labor Relations Board budget, $576 million for the Environmental Protection Agency, and more.
House GOP objects:
House Republicans, who are poised to take control of the chamber next month, have pushed for a short-term funding bill so they can exert leverage during negotiations. They criticized Senate Republicans for agreeing to the plan.
“We are obliged to inform you that if any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for this bill – including the Republican leader,” five far-right House Republicans said in a letter. “We will oppose any rule, any consent request, suspension voice vote, or roll call vote of any such Senate bill, and will otherwise do everything in our power to thwart even the smallest legislative and policy efforts of those senators.”
