Biden signs $1.2T Funding Package After Partial Shutdown Thwarted

President Biden signed a colossal $1.2 trillion spending package after Congress concluded a tumultuous government funding cycle and skirted a shutdown after midnight.

The Senate cleared the six-bill funding bundle in a 74-24 vote early Saturday morning. The House approved the package earlier on Friday, with more Democrats voting for the massive measure than Republicans as Speaker Mike Johnson faces a new threat to his gavel.

Biden called the bill’s passage “a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted,” according to a White House release. Almost halfway through the fiscal year, the legislation will deliver fresh budgets and a steady funding stream to the Pentagon and many non-defense agencies through September. The final passage vote caps off an especially rancorous government funding battle that began more than a year ago when House conservatives started demanding deep spending cuts from then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, despite the reality that the Democrat-led Senate and Biden would never agree to severe reductions. Both the House and Senate are now headed out for a two-week recess. When they return, other priorities will quickly consume both chambers.