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Dec. 23 (UPI) — The House is prepared to pass a $1.7 trillion spending bill on Friday, as party leaders seek to avoid a government shutdown right before the Christmas holiday.
The measure is expected to pass with bipartisan support, as several Republicans are expected to join the Democratic majority and vote yes. It will likely be the last bill Democrats pass before the GOP takes control of the House on Jan. 3.
“This bill is a critically important piece of legislation not only to keep our government funded, keep our people being served but also to show that the United States of America’s government works,” House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said ahead of the vote, according to ABC News.
Some House Republicans, including current House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy R-Calif., have called for punting the issue to the new Congress.
“This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I’ve seen in this body. The appropriations process failed the American public, and there’s no greater example of the nail in the coffin of the greatest failure of a one-party rule,” McCarthy said in a nearly 25-minute floor speech Friday, telling the body he would be a ‘no’ vote.
Yesterday the Senate voted 68-29 to send the legislation to the House. The package had been held up in the upper chamber because of an issue related to Title 42, the pandemic-era measure that allowed for the expulsion of migrants on public-health grounds.
On Thursday, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., introduced an amendment to increase border funding and resources for border communities and extend the Title 42 health policy, breaking the stalemate.
The 4,100 page spending plan includes $772.5 billion for domestic priorities, and $858 billion for defense. The bill also includes roughly $40 billion in disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, wildfires, drought and other natural disasters; reforms to the Electoral Count Act; and bans TikTok on federal agencies’ devices, among a slew of other projects for lawmakers.
“The defense spending is outrageous — much too high,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., according to the New York Times. “But at the end of the day, I don’t want to see the government shut down, and there are some very important provisions in it.”
It also provides an additional $45 billion in emergency assistance for Ukraine, one day after Ukrainian President addressed a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol.
