Half a dozen bills providing funding for the Departments of Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services, among other agencies, have been signed into law by President Biden.
In what is an overall $1.2 trillion budget deal, members of Congress effectively held off the latest threat of a government shutdown, with Biden noting: “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted.”
A statement from the White House declared: “Because obligations of federal funds are incurred and tracked on a daily basis, agencies will not shut down and may continue their normal operations.”
The Congressional action comes at the end of a months-long process of stopgap spending measures and intense debate. In the end, the House approved the final measure by a 286 to 134 vote. In the Senate, the 74 members approved the package, with 24 voting in the opposition.
Although a majority of the Republican caucus in the House voted against the measure, Speaker Mike Johnson described the measure as “the best achievable outcome in a divided government.”
The bill approves an $824.5 billion budget for the Defense Department, above its current $796 billion.
Other details: the budget for the Department of Homeland Security was approved for $61.8 billion, while nearly $20 billion is heading to the Customs and Border Protection agency.
The new budget for the Internal Revenue Service will remain at the current $12.3 billion level. Nearly $240 million was approved for the National Flood Insurance Fund, thus keeping alive the National Flood Insurance Program.
All of the Senate members from Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico voted in favor of the budget, with the exception of Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado. Bennet said he opposed the legislation “because it failed to include any financial support for Ukraine.”
By Garry Boulard
