Senate passes $1.7 trillion spending package: what made the cut — and what didn’t
The Senate overwhelmingly passed a $1.7 trillion spending package Thursday that includes record amounts for domestic programs and defense priorities as lawmakers scrambled to approve the sweeping bill as a foreboding winter storm threatened to paralyze the nation’s capital.
The House was poised to follow suit later Thursday and approve the measure to fund the rest of the 2023 fiscal year that runs through Sept. 30 and avoid a partial government shutdown set to take effect 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
The Senate’s 68-29 vote came the day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a joint session of Congress urged lawmakers to approve billions in additional military, economic and humanitarian assistance as it tries to repel Russia’s invasion. The spending bill includes roughly $45 billion for Ukraine.
to expel migrants without the usual legal review to Mexico or to their home countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities.reform the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which was at the center of former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election results, was among the pieces of legislation included in the sweeping spending bill. The bill, an effort to prevent a repeat of the chaos engulfing the Jan. 6 certification of the Electoral College tabulation, would send appeals directly to the U.S. Supreme Court and makes clear the vice president’s role in overseeing the count is solely ceremonial.
access to additional financial services, including digital transactions. The Senate did not vote on the legislation despite the House passing it April 2021 for the fifth time.
Now what?
Although the $1.7 billion bill has cleared a major hurdle, it still has yet to pass the House, which it’s expected to do late Thursday.
Contributing: John Fritze
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