Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Monday about negotiations on a government spending package.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
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J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Monday about negotiations on a government spending package.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders unveiled a $1.7 trillion government-wide spending package early Tuesday that includes another major round of aid to Ukraine, boosting national spending by nearly 10 percent. and about $40 billion to help communities around the country recover from droughts, hurricanes and other problems. natural disaster.
The bill is 4,155 pages long, includes about $772.5 billion in non-defense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding, and will run through the end of the fiscal year in September.
Lawmakers have worked to put as many priorities as possible into the sprawling package, which could be the last major bill of the current Congress. They are racing to complete passage by Friday’s midnight deadline or face the prospect of a partial government shutdown before the Christmas break.
Lawmakers leading the negotiations announced the details of the bill just before 2 a.m. Tuesday.
The spending package includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion, according to Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. This would be the largest round of U.S. assistance to Ukraine, even surpassing President Joe Biden’s $37 billion emergency request, and ensure that funding is directed toward the war effort in the region. many months to come.
The United States has provided about $68 billion to Ukraine in previous rounds of military, economic and humanitarian assistance.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.
The legislation also includes historic amendments to federal election laws intended to prevent any future president or presidential candidate from attempting to overturn the election. The bipartisan review of the Voter Counting Act is a direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to oppose the confirmation. President Joe Biden’s victory on January 6, 2021. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has warned that if the fiscal year 2023 spending measure fails to receive bipartisan support within the week In this regard, he will seek another short-term solution next year, ensuring that a new Republican majority in the House will shape the spending package.
Leahy opposed that approach when announcing the bill, saying, “the choice is clear. We can do our job and fund the government, or we can waive responsibility. with no real path forward.”
Despite the warning, McConnell sees the long-term spending bill as a win for the GOP, even if many will inevitably vote against it. He said Republicans have succeeded in increasing defense spending far beyond Biden’s request while paring some of the increase Biden wants for domestic spending.
“Congress is rejecting the vision of the Biden administration and doing the exact opposite,” McConnell said.
Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement that neither side got everything they wanted in the deal. But she hailed the measure as “good for our economy, our competitiveness, and our country, and I urge Congress to send it to the President’s desk immediately.”
The bill’s publication was delayed due to a language bargain regarding the location of the future FBI headquarters. Maryland lawmakers have argued that ensuring predominantly Black communities receive their fair share of federal investment should be subject to greater scrutiny as part of the selection process. They are advocating building headquarters in one of two locations in Prince George’s County of Maryland.
In September, the General Services Administration released a site selection plan based on five criteria, the highest rated at 35% being near the FBI training academy in Quantico, Virginia. Advance equity is weighted at 15%.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said at a recent forum that a Biden executive order early in his administration emphasized that racial equality issues are not just a matter of fact. subject of any department, which should be the business of the entire government.
“I think the GSA and the FBI clearly didn’t get the message, because they underestimated this factor,” Van Hollen said.
A Senate Democratic aide familiar with the negotiations said Schumer worked to incorporate language in the spending bill to ensure the GSA administrator conducts “separate consultations and details” with legislators representing the Maryland and Virginia locations to get their views.
Lawmakers are nearing completion of the 2023 spending package nearly three months late. It was supposed to be completed this past October 1, when the government’s fiscal year begins.
The last time Congress enacted all spending bills was in 1996, when the Senate closed on September 30, the last day of the budget year. Then-President Bill Clinton signed it that same day.
The Senate is expected to vote on the spending bill before it needs the support of at least 10 Republican senators to pass it before it can be considered by the House. As was the case with recent aggregate spending bills, lawmakers expressed concern about passing thousands of pages of legislation in a short time.
“We have yet to see a single page of the Pelosi-Schumer spending bill and they are expecting us to pass it this weekend,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla tweeted. “This is crazy.”
