President Joe Biden signed a $459 billion spending plan on Saturday to fund a number of prominent government departments and agencies just hours after the Senate approved the package in a 75-22 vote after rejecting a host of conservative-backed amendments.
The spending package, which was opposed by 21 Republican senators and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), will fund the Defense Department, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Agriculture Department, the FDA, the Transportation Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FBI, the EPA, and the ATF.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) celebrated the passage of the bill, saying that it demonstrated that the House and Senate could work together.
“To folks who worry that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise,” Schumer said.
The bill, which was criticized by conservative lawmakers for how many earmarks it included, was passed ahead of a deadline that could have led to a partial government shutdown.
It was supported by Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as well as Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD), both of whom are running to replace McConnell.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was critical of the bill, saying that there was bipartisan consensus to keep adding to the national debt.
“A lot of people don’t understand this. They think there is no cooperation in Washington and the opposite is true. There is compromise every day on every spending bill,” Paul said. “It’s compromise between big-government Democrats and big-government Republicans.”
One amendment, from Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), to ensure that illegal aliens are not counted toward the apportionment of congressional seats and electoral votes failed 51-45, with all Democrats opposing.
“Today Democrats proved they will vote for anything that preserves their own power — even using illegal immigration to compromise Americans’ voting rights,” Haggerty said.
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Other amendments from Republicans included efforts from Sen. Rick Scott (FL) to remove all of the earmarks out of the bill and an amendment that would have blocked the FDA’s promotion of the abortion drug mifepristone.
“Earmarks incentivize the wrong thing in Congress — spending too much money — by rewarding senators and representatives for supporting bloated & otherwise-problematic spending bills,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said.
Earmarks incentivize the wrong thing in Congress — spending too much money — by rewarding senators and representatives for supporting bloated & otherwise-problematic spending bills.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) March 9, 2024
The Senate’s passage of the spending package comes after the House approved it earlier this week after opposition from some conservative lawmakers who said it didn’t cut enough spending.