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The Senate on Friday gave final approval to a $460 billion spending bill to fund about half of the federal government through the fall, sending it to President Biden’s desk with just hours to spare to avoid a partial shutdown. Sent the bill.
The lopsided 75-22 vote cemented a solution to at least part of the spending impasse that has consumed Congress for months and brought the government to the brink of shutdown multiple times. The funding was scheduled to expire at midnight, but the White House announced the executive branch had halted preparations for the shutdown and Biden would sign the bill on Saturday.
Leading lawmakers have been negotiating spending bills for the other half of the government, including the Pentagon, during the same period, and Congress needs to pass the bill by March 22 to avoid a shutdown. Some thorny issues remain to be resolved, such as funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
The bill passed six spending bills together on Friday, extending funding through Sept. 30 for dozens of federal programs covering agriculture, energy and the environment, transportation, housing, the Department of Justice and veterans affairs. did.
“For those who worry that a divided government won’t get us anywhere, this bipartisan package shows that’s not the case,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and majority leader. “There is,” he said. “This helps parents, veterans, firefighters, farmers, school cafeterias and more.”
The package adheres to funding levels that Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated last year, keeping spending on domestic programs at a base level even as funding for veterans programs continues to increase. It allows for an increase in military spending while keeping the economy flat. Slightly.
Democrats have been most vocal about their proposals, including a proposal to defund new rules by the Food and Drug Administration that would allow mifepristone, the first pill used in a two-drug abortion therapy, to be distributed by mail and in retail stores. rejected the policy demands of the divided Republican Party. Efforts to reduce and limit nutritional benefits to low-income households.
“Today, we completed the first half of the job, passing a significant bipartisan package to fund key parts of our government,” said Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat and chair of the Appropriations Committee. Told. “This is not a bill I would write alone, but it is a strong bipartisan package that will preserve critical resources for people’s lives.”
House Republicans secured some small victories, including modest cuts to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and environmental programs, but some of the cuts were much smaller than they appeared. and a Department of Veterans Affairs enactment designed to prevent veteran suicide by flagging the federal gun background check system when a veteran is found to lack the mental capacity to manage his or her finances. They also succeeded in including measures to curb such policies.
One Democratic lawmaker ultimately opposed the spending bill because of its inclusion.
Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., said, “I’m voting no because in the days when the gun lobby was able to kill gun owners with spending bills, which happened often before Sandy Hook.” ) because we cannot accept a return to statement. “This will never happen again.”
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