Biden signs $1.7T government spending bill, ensuring funding for most of 2023

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden Thursday signed the omnibus spending bill into law while on vacation, extending funding for the government into next year.

Biden, on vacation in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, signed the $1.7 trillion into law to avoid a government shutdown and provide funding for the federal government through September.

The legislation, which provides $773 billion for non-defense discretionary spending and $858 billion for defense spending, marks victories for both parties.

“Today, I signed the bipartisan omnibus bill, ending a year of historic progress,” Biden tweeted. “It’ll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, VAWA funding – and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine. Looking forward to more in 2023.”

Democrats were able to move the bill over the finish line despite near universal opposition by House Republicans, who are set to retake the chamber next month. And Republicans can tout the fact that defense outweighs non-defense spending after Democrats had pushed for parity.

“In eleven days this all changes. We are going to reclaim this body’s integrity and service to the American people. After this institution covers itself in disgrace, disgrace one last time under Democrat one-party rule. A new direction is coming. In eleven days, Republicans will deliver,” House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who is seeking to become speaker in the next Congress, said just before the House considered the spending bill.

“This bill is further proof that Republicans and Democrats can come together to deliver for the American people, and I’m looking forward to continued bipartisan progress in the year ahead,” Biden said in his own statement after the House passed the bill in a 225-201 vote last week.

Democratic and Republican appropriators faced a rocky process to craft the omnibus in the final days before the winter holiday recess, and Congress was forced to pass multiple stopgap spending bills to prevent a government shutdown.

Disagreements over several issues, including immigration, funding to Ukraine and even the location of the FBI’s new headquarters, snarled the negotiations, but ultimately the two parties came to the $1.7 trillion compromise.

Included within the bill are $40 billion in funding to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, $38 billion in emergency disaster assistance, a ban on TikTok on federal government phones and the Electoral Count Reform Act, which makes it more difficult for members of Congress to challenge the results of a presidential election.

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