The Senate sent President Donald Trump two spending bills Thursday that would provide $1.4 trillion to fund the U.S. government through September and avoid a shutdown on Saturday.
The White House said Trump will sign the bills, which already passed the House, preventing a replay of the 35-day partial government closure he provoked last December over funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The bill to fund defense-related departments passed on a 81-11 vote. The other, to fund non-defense agencies and extend a number of expiring tax breaks, passed earlier in the day 71-23. Trump tweeted his praise for the spending bills and said he'll sign them on Friday.
The rare moment of bipartisanship came as lawmakers and voters are bitterly divided over Trump’s impeachment by the House on Wednesday.
While Republican and Democratic spending panel members hailed the bills for increasing military and domestic spending in line with a two-year budget plan enacted in July, the measures were opposed by lawmakers concerned about growing deficits.
Wall Compromise
The White House has indicated support because the spending deal keeps in place a compromise on the border wall. It provides the same $1.375 billion for the wall as in fiscal 2019 -- much less than the nearly $9 billion the president sought -- and leaves it to the courts to decide whether he can continue to raid military accounts for more funding over Democratic objections.
White House legislative liaison Eric Ueland said Trump will sign the measures and that “there is much in these appropriations bills that he supports.”
Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, pointed to the ability of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to negotiate a top-line budget level for the year in July as key to avoiding another shutdown.
Democrats didn’t agree to replenish $3.6 billion in military construction funds that Trump redirected to wall construction after the shutdown ended earlier this year and which is the subject of a nationwide court injunction.