2024-03-23 10:44:25
The US Senate this morning overwhelmingly passed a $1.2 trillion budget bill, securing funding for the government through the end of the fiscal year that began six months ago and averting a partial government shutdown. Reuters.
The law was adopted by 74 votes “for” against 24 votes “against”.
Key federal agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Foreign Affairs and the Treasury Department, which houses the Internal Revenue Service, received funding through Sept. 30 after the bill passed the Democratic-dominated upper house of Congress. .
However, the measure does not include funding for mostly military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel, which was included in another bill that passed the Senate but was ignored by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, Reuters noted.
Senate leaders last night spent hours negotiating a number of amendments to the budget bill that were ultimately rejected. The delay delayed its adoption past last night’s midnight deadline. The White House Office of Management and Budget, however, said agencies would not be ordered to close, expressing confidence that the Senate would pass the bill without delay, which it did.
Although Congress ultimately passed the landmark bill, deep partisan differences and bitter divisions within the fractured Republican majority in the House of Representatives were once again on display. Conservative Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green threatened to call a vote to impeach House Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Republican, for allowing the measure to pass.
The bill provides $886 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Defense, including a pay raise for U.S. soldiers. President Joe Biden said he would sign it.