On Friday, the 23rd of December, President Joe Biden signed a short-term measure to keep the government running until the approaching $1.7 trillion budget plan is passed.
This new, short-term bill pushes the deadline for financing to the 30th of December, providing the White House with some breathing room while President Biden prepares to sign the far more expensive funding plan in the following week.
More than 7,200 earmarks with a combined amount of more than $15 billion are included in the new bill, which is more than 4,000 pages long and will finance the government for the remainder of the current fiscal year.
The possibility of a shutdown of the United States government until the budget plan is passed into law exists if an extension is not granted.
After a dispute over immigration policy came close to derailing the package, the Senate ultimately voted to adopt the $1.7 trillion spending plan on Thursday, mostly along party lines, in a 225-201 vote with the assistance of nine Republican senators, despite the opposition from GOP leaders.
Most of the votes came from GOP members of Congress who are retiring from office at the conclusion of the current term. Whatever the case may be, most Republicans criticized the package as unnecessary spending that will only increase the already staggering $31 trillion national debt during this time of already rising prices. However, Democrats have defended it as being essential to the lives of millions of Americans.
The measure swiftly passed, on Friday, through the House of Representatives of the United States.
As severe winter weather threatened to delay their flights back home, legislators in the House of Representatives moved quickly to get the bill passed. After discussing the rule that established the terms of the debate on the bill for only a total of one hour, House of Representatives members offered a superficial, trimmed discussion on the bill itself before beginning to vote.
Conservatives like Texas Representative Chip Roy slammed the bill for its lack of modifications and its proposal to spend money the government would have to borrow. Roy further expressed frustration that the bill was hurried through the House of Representatives, despite the opposition of many Senate Republicans.
Even the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, recognized that the procedure was “unacceptable,” He placed the responsibility on Senate Democrats for failing to complete their job on time this year.
The plan allocates a total of $858 billion for defense spending, $787 billion for domestic programs that are not related to defense, and close to $45 billion for humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.