US lawmakers back US$1.7trn budget plan
The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives on Friday passed a US$1.66 trillion government funding bill that provides record military funding and sends emergency aid to Ukraine, hours before a midnight deadline. The spending bill for the fiscal year ending September 30 was approved on a largely party-line vote of 225-201, following Senate passage the previous day. President Joe Biden said he would sign the hard-fought legislation, which also includes more aid for students with disabilities, additional funding to protect workers' rights and more job-training resources, as well as more affordable housing for families, veterans and those fleeing domestic violence. "The bipartisan funding bill advances key priorities for our country and caps off a year of historic bipartisan progress for the American people," Biden said. The vote marked the close, for all practical purposes, of the 117th Congress, which delivered major victories to Biden over the past two years. These included a massive Covid-19 aid stimulus bill, the first major infrastructure investment measure in years and a bill investing billions of dollars to battle climate change. A modest gun control bill also was enacted. While some of the work was done in a bipartisan manner, that was not the case with Friday's US$1.66 trillion funding bill, opposed by House Republican conservatives and some Senate conservatives. Gridlock in Congress is likely to deepen next year when Republicans take a narrow majority of the House. The 4,000-plus page bill passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 68-29, with the support of 18 of the 50 Senate Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Just nine of the 213 House Republicans backed it. Their leader, Kevin McCarthy vehemently opposed the bill, calling it "one of the most shameful acts" he has seen in Congress. McCarthy, who is seeking to become the next speaker of the House, has been struggling to shore up support from his most conservative Republican members. Far-right Republicans wanted deep domestic spending cuts that this "omnibus" spending bill does not accomplish. They have threatened to oppose any legislation introduced by any of the Senate Republicans who supported the bill. (Reuters)