Senate passes $1.7 trillion spending bill

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The Senate has passed a $1.7 trillion spending bill. Associated Press/Photo by J. Scott Applewhite

Senate passes $1.7 trillion spending bill

The Senate approved a massive funding measure by a vote of 68-29 on Thursday. The bill will now go to the House for approval before the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown. Negotiations stalled early this week after a group of senators pushed an amendment to keep Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy that gives agents more authority to turn back illegal immigrants at the border. The amendment failed before the spending bill passed.

What else is in the spending package? The omnibus bill includes $858 billion in defense funding and roughly $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and other NATO allies. In addition to roughly $772 billion allocated to domestic programs, the bill also includes an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act and a measure to ban TikTok from government devices.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew about Congress’ packed end-of-year agenda.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.