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Early Tuesday morning, senior lawmakers from both parties unveiled the long-awaited $1.7 trillion government funding package. The move would leave Congress with little time to consider a large bill that would be forced to vote for approval or risk a government shutdown.
A shutdown is expected to be avoided in the Capitol, but congressional leaders have little room for error given the tight timelines they face. Government funding is due to expire at midnight Friday.
Known as the Omnibus in the Capitol, this massive appropriation bill will fund critical government activities across federal agencies for fiscal year 2023. It provides $772.5 billion for non-defense domestic programs and $858 billion for defense funding. It also includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, and about $40 billion in natural disaster assistance. release From the Senate Appropriations Committee.
More than 4,000 pages of legislative text were made public around 1:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, leaving legislators and the general public little time to review its contents in advance. Congress will vote to pass it.
In a bipartisan political environment, bipartisan action often doesn’t happen without significant time pressure, so in recent years the Capitol has unveiled a slew of fundraising bills at the 11th hour, followed by both houses of Congress. It has become standard to interfere with them with This has led to criticism and complaints from lawmakers who say the process is rushed, secretive, and not operating with the transparency it should.
Senate leaders aim to take procedural steps to pass the bill by Thursday, after which it will be sent to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to be adopted, and signed by Friday’s deadline. We aim to send to President Joe Biden for
Other provisions in the bill include a review of the Electoral College Act of 1887 and Secure Act 2.0, a package aimed at making it easier to save for retirement, according to Senate sources. The bill also includes a ban on his TikTok from federal devices.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, and Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, formally announced on Tuesday that they would include electoral count reform.
“We are delighted that our legislation has been included in the Comprehensive Appropriations Bill, and we appreciate the support of so many of our colleagues. ,” the senators said in a joint statement.
Appropriations bills are the product of lengthy negotiations between top Democrats and Republicans in Congress. And negotiators are now calling for swift passage of the bill.
“The choice is clear: we either do our job and fund the government, or we abdicate responsibility with no real way forward,” said Patrick of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Commissioner Leahy (Vermont Democrat) said in a statement: “Passing this bipartisan, bicameral, omnibus appropriation bill is absolutely in the interests of the American people.”
Republicans are emphasizing money set aside for national defense following a dispute between the two parties over how much money should be spent on domestic priorities other than national defense.
Republican Senator Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement, “From day one, I will far exceed the president’s demands without a similar increase in wasteful liberal nondefense spending.” “We’ve been advocating for increased defense funding,” he said.
“This process was far from perfect, but in the end we were able to adhere to the Republican Redline, which is why I urge my colleagues to endorse this package. work and fund the government,” he said.
Some important measures were not included in the plan. A law that would allow cannabis companies to bank their cash reserves (known as the Safe Banking Act) was not included in the final bill, allowing a number of companies and Individual tax incentives were also not included, the sources said. .
Also, there was no final resolution on the location of the new FBI headquarters. This was a major point of contention as Maryland lawmakers (House Majority Leader Stenny Hoyer) pushed for bringing law enforcement into the state. In a deal negotiated by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the General Services Administration will have “individual and detailed discussions” with representatives from Maryland and Virginia about each state’s candidate sites, according to the Senate Democratic aide. It is necessary to implement
