Congress reaches compromise on spending package

WASHINGTON—Lawmakers worked through the weekend to reach a $1.07 trillion spending package deal late Sunday—appropriating billions in new defense spending but retaining the status quo for Planned Parenthood.

After passing a one-week extension bill on Friday, congressional appropriators agreed on updated government spending levels good through the end of September. The 1,665-page proposed spending package contains $1.5 billion in new border security funds, none of which can help pay for President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall. It also includes about $12.5 billion in overall new defense spending, including funds to target Islamic State terrorists and cover the largest military pay raise in six years.

“America will be stronger and safer because of this government funding bill,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., “It acts on President Trump’s commitment to rebuild our military for the 21st century and bolster our nation’s border security to protect our homeland.”

But the compromise spending bill failed to make progress on key Republican issues, such as paying for military increases with offsets in non-defense spending and defunding the nation’s largest abortion provider.

Lawmakers unveiled the text of the new bill with plenty of time for review and debate before the government shuts down Friday evening. But with endorsements from leaders on both sides of the aisle, most expect it to pass this week without many changes.

Democrats successfully negotiated 160 Republican policy riders to curb the size of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), bail out Puerto Rico, and cut federal medical research projects.

Trump’s original budget blueprint asked for an overall $18 billion spending decrease, which included a 30 percent cut to the EPA and large non-defense spending offsets. The bill introduced Sunday keeps 99 percent of EPA’s funding without any staff cuts, and Democrats added $295 million to shore up Medicaid in debt-plagued Puerto Rico.

The president also called for large cuts to the National Institutes of Health for the rest of this fiscal year. But the proposed budget retains funding instead and allocates $2 billion more for new research projects, including a cancer initiative President Barack Obama announced in his 2016 State of the Union address.

“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., “The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle-class relies on, like medical research, education, and infrastructure.”

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., said the bill isn’t perfect but applauded the inclusion of new defense spending. Overall, the bill reflects Republican core values, he said.

But pro-life groups weren’t impressed, especially after Trump and Ryan had promised to defund Planned Parenthood. The next opportunity to follow through likely won’t happen until Congress takes up the next spending package, in October.

“With pro-life Republican majorities in both houses, it is incredibly disappointing that any Republican spending bill would contain continued funding for Planned Parenthood,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “This makes it imperative that Republicans also move quickly on a reconciliation bill that redirects the abortion giant’s funding to community health centers.”

Last week, Students for Life of America and other pro-life groups displayed nearly 200,000 baby socks on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol to remind lawmakers how many abortions Planned Parenthood does each year.

“It’s beyond frustrating that Congress is poised to pass a government funding bill that continues to fund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion vendor and the subject of over a dozen criminal referrals from committees in both the House and Senate,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life. “The Republican Party is the only party with an anti-abortion platform and whose candidates ran specifically on the promise to defund Planned Parenthood, yet, here we are, watching them pass a bill that funds Planned Parenthood even though they control the House, Senate, and White House.”

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are still reviewing the spending package. It needs to clear votes in the House and the Senate before Trump can sign off. But party leaders expect it to pass easily later this week while they turn their attention to healthcare legislation and tax reform.