The Senate on Friday gave final approval to a $460 billion bill to fund about half of the federal government through the fall, sending the bill to President Biden, who had just hours left to call for a partial shutdown to avert.
The lopsided 75-22 vote cemented a solution that resolved at least part of the budget crisis that has dogged Congress for months and repeatedly brought the government to the brink of gridlock. The funding was set to expire at midnight, but the White House said the executive branch was halting preparations for the shutdown and that Mr. Biden would sign the bill on Saturday.
During the same period, top lawmakers were still negotiating spending bills for the other half of the government, including the Pentagon, which Congress must pass by March 22 to avert a shutdown. Several thorny issues, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security, still need to be resolved.
The bill passed Friday consolidates six spending bills and extends funding for dozens of federal programs in agriculture, energy and environment, transportation, housing, the Department of Justice and veterans through Sept. 30.
“For people who fear that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and majority leader. “It helps parents, veterans, firefighters, farmers, school cafeterias and more.”
The package sticks to the funding levels negotiated last year by Mr. Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, keeping spending on domestic programs essentially flat — even as funding for veterans programs continues to grow — while allowing for an increase in military spending slightly.
Democrats rejected Republicans’ most contentious policy demands, including an attempt to scrap a new Food and Drug Administration rule banning distribution of mifepristone – the first pill used in a two-drug abortion regimen – by mail and in retail stores. and efforts to reduce and limit nutritional benefits for low-income families.
“Today we completed the first half of our job – passing a serious bipartisan package to fund important parts of our government,” said Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington and chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. “This is not the bill I would have written alone, but it is a strong bipartisan package that preserves vital resources that matter in people’s lives.”
House Republicans won some smaller victories, including modest cuts to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and environmental programs, although some of the cuts were far smaller than they appeared. And they pushed for the inclusion of a measure that limits a policy implemented by the Veterans Affairs Department aimed at preventing veteran suicides by flagging a federal gun background check system when veterans are found to be incompetent. manage their own finances.
A Democrat ultimately opposed the spending bill because of its inclusion of this policy.
“I am voting no because I do not accept a return to a time when the gun lobby could bury gun riders in budget bills (which happened frequently before Sandy Hook),” Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said in a statement. “This can’t happen again.”
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2024-03-09 05:12:54
www.nytimes.com