The Senate PASSES $1.65 trillion spending bill as storm nears

The Senate on Thursday passed a massive $1.65 trillion omnibus appropriations bill after members reached an agreement allowing it to breeze through the chamber three days before Christmas.

It was the last big policy effort by the unified Democratic House and Senate before the end of the year. 

The deal passed the chamber 68-29 in what Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said would be the last vote of the year.

The vote followed a round of applause inside the chamber for the retiring Appropriations Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama. Shelby noted they had a combined 50 years of service in Congress. and said the bill had ‘a lot of good stuff’ in it, although fellow Republicans made last-gasp efforts to try to strip away special projects that lawmakers included.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber might not be able to vote on the measure until Saturday – a schedule that might still keep some of her members stranded due to the late action and the winter weather. Government is set to expire at midnight Friday.

The vote came after Schumer announced the deal on the Senate floor Thursday morning, after the chamber was in session until 2 am.

‘It’s taken a while, but it is worth it, and I appreciate the cooperation of everyone here,’ he said. Senators then immediately began voting on amendments.

The deal allowed an up-or-down vote on an amendment by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee on Title 42 border enforcement and came just a day before a temporary measure funding the government was set to expire.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (seen with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky) announced a deal allowing the Senate to plow through consideration of a $1.7 trillion omnibus funding bill

But that amendment, as well as others that might have blown up the deal, were defeated on the floor. 

Title 42 authority was set to expire Wednesday, but Supreme Court Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay which is expected to expire on December 27. The Trump-era policy allows for border enforcement to cite the pandemic and deny entry to asylum seekers.

‘The omnibus contains nothing to secure the border, and in fact contains language undermining border security,’ Lee tweeted. ‘Without an up-or-down vote on Title 42, every Senate Republican should oppose.’

With more than 6500 plane flights already cancelled due to the storm, which is bringing blizzard conditions and below freezing temperatures across a huge swath of the country, senators agreed to consider votes in speedy fashion. Schumer asked them to remain in their chairs once voting begins in ten-minute increments – rather than allow for standard procedure which gets stalled by side-conversations.   

He complained when one vote – waiving a budget point of order – ran two minutes over. ‘We can do better,’ Schumer admonished his colleagues.

President Joe Biden spoke at the White House even as senators were voting. He warned that the storm was ‘not like a snow day.’

‘If you have travel plans, leave now. … This is no joke,’ he said – in advice senators appeared to be heeding.

Republicans had railed against extraneous provisions in the bill, and several critics were able to secure votes on changes that had the potential to blow up an agreement on the underlying bill if they were to pass. One would strike all spending ‘earmarks’ in the bill. Sen. Ron Johnston (R-Wis.) called the earmarks ‘grotesque’ and demanded the member-driven projects be stripped. 

Another amendment, by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and John Tester (R-Mont.) would boost funds for border enforcement, required 60-votes for passage, a bar it was unable to meet. Lee called that amendment a ‘a ruse designed to provide political cover’ for people opposing his amendment. 

One of the last votes is an amendment that would extend Title 42 authority at the border

‘The omnibus contains nothing to secure the border, and in fact contains language undermining border security,’ complained Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). He forced a vote that would extend the authority 

The bill includes $45 billion in aid for Ukraine for its war against Russia’s invasion

Lee also on Twitter called it ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing to mislead the American people.’

That prompted an online question from ‘Chief Twit’ Elon Musk to Sinema and Tester. ‘Is this true?’ he asked them.

Tester responded that it was false, calling it a ‘good-faith effort.’ 

Lawmakers first cleared the way to pass a $1.7 trillion ‘omnibus’ spending bill on Tuesday night as an expected blizzard approached the Midwest – as a group of Senate Republican threatened to try to play Scrooge by forcing Senate clerks to read every page of it aloud in protest.

The legislation survived a procedural vote on Tuesday, clearing the way for senators to begin debate and ultimately see whether it has the 60 votes needed to pass.

The final vote tally was 70 for and 25 lawmakers against the bill. 

Senate Democrats cheered the measure, the final spending bill of their two-year stint of unified control of government, although it was achieved in negotiations with Senate Republicans as well.

‘The bill is overflowing with good news,’ gushed Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer of New York. He noted to reporters that a ‘big storm is coming’ Thursday or Friday, so ‘we’d like to finish this as soon as possible.’

Senate Republicans weren’t so keen on any kind of rush, even with a scheduled holiday break approaching.

Utah Senator Mike Lee compared the lengthy omnibus bill to the Bible and said it was nearly four times as long to read.

‘The Bible is a long book and it’s 12,000 pages long. And so going through [the omnibus bill], reading through this. which – the Bible is actually interesting and full of stories that you can follow, much more interesting than this,’ Lee said in a strange tangent.

‘You’d have to read the Bible three and a half times during that same period and be able to comprehend it.’

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) gushed about a new $1.7 trillion ‘omnibus’ appropriations bill. He wants the Senate to pass it immediately as a massive storm approaches

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul tweeted a similar sentiment, ‘I wonder how long it would take the clerk to read this…’ 

 It was a threat to try to use tactics to stall the measure, although it has support from Democrats and a number of Republicans, including retiring Senate Appropriations top Republican Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

Paul brought stacks of paper to a press conference on Tuesday that he said were the 4,155 pages of the bill. 

‘The American people don’t want this they’re sick and tired of it. They’re paying for it through the nose with inflation. Adding a trillion dollars to the deficit will simply fuel the fires that are consuming our wages and consuming our retirement plan. It’s a terrible system,’ the Kentucky Republican said.

Lawmakers must act by Friday, when a short-term bill to fund the government expires.   

The measure includes a boost to defense spending, a ban on TikTok, and the largest amount of cash assistance to the Ukraine yet. 

The TikTok initiative was a bill introduced by Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley to ban the China-backed app from government phones. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had the legislation added to the omnibus in a show of bipartisan unity against Beijing.

Hawley told DailyMail.com that it was ‘great’ his TikTok ban was included in the omnibus – but told reporters outside the Senate floor that he will ‘probably not’ vote for the final package. 

The bill also includes $44.9 billion for the Ukraine – well above President Joe Biden‘s $37 billion request, with $2.4 billions to assist refugees and help Ukrainians settle in the U.S.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) threatened delay by hinting at how long it would take a Senate clerk to read the bill with Christmas – and a big storm –approaching

The move ensures that funding will flow to the embattled nation for months to come amid questions about whether Republicans, who take control of the House on January 3rd, would continue financial assistance. 

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) told DailyMail.com the Ukraine number ‘means that we continue to be continued to Ukraine’s victory in ousting Putin’s war criminals. That’s the good news.’ Asked if it would be harder to get funds once Republicans take control of the House, he responded: ‘Some of these House Republicans losing patience with this war – it sickens me to even say those words.’  

Schumer rattling through provision after provision inside the spending deal, which wraps together multiple spending measures weeks after the start of the fiscal year. They include a $500 increase in pell grants, funds for rural hospitals, the largest dollar increase for the National Science Foundation, ‘continuous’ health coverage for children after they turn 18.

‘I can’t stop talking about it because it’s so good,’ he said. 

Lawmakers have been working frantically to meet Friday’s deadline or face a partial government shutdown over Christmas. The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, had its details released shortly before 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

This year’s budget bill includes $44.9 billion for Ukraine – the largest amount of assistance yet; above Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits troops in the Bakhmut, Donetsk region

The government funding package also includes a ban on federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices

In its pages is a ban on federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices in the latest crackdown on the Chinese-developed app.

It would not affect Americans who use the app on their private devices.  The White House, Pentagon and several other agencies already ban the app on government-owned devices. 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Tuesday that the Senate would start voting on the package that afternoon. He cited a coming snowstorm as the reason for the rush.

He said he was going to move quickly and try to get it done ahead of Friday’s deadline ‘because we’re mindful that a northeaster is barreling down the east coast on Thursday and Friday.’

The massive budget bill – known as an omnibus – includes $800 billion in defense funding, a 9% boost over last year. It also includes $40.6 billion for communities recovering from drought, hurricanes, flooding, wildfire, natural disasters, and other emergencies. 

Also in the package is a measure to reform Electoral Count Act of 1887 – a revision that reaffirms that the vice president has only a ceremonial role in counting electoral college votes and raises the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors. 

It is in direct response to Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and Mike Pence to object to the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are claiming victories from the provisions included in the budget.

Members of both parties praised the inclusion of nearly $119 billion for veterans medical care, a 22 percent increase over the last year.

And Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell described the bill as a victory for his party even though many GOP lawmakers will likely vote against it.

He stressed the success in boosting defense spending while scaling back some of the increases Biden wanted for domestic spending.

‘The Congress is rejecting the Biden administration’s vision and doing the exact opposite,’ McConnell said.

McConnell was under pressure from House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and some conservatives, who wanted him to stall negotiations until next year, when Republicans control the House – thereby giving them a stronger hand in the negotiations.

McCarthy wasn’t a part of the budget talks. And Democrats in the House are expected to easily pass it this week.

But, to move the budget quickly through the Senate’s cumbersome legislative process – and thereby beat the Friday deadline – Senate Democrats need Republican lawmakers on board. 

‘I’m confident that both sides will find things in it they can enthusiastically support,’ said Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Democrats, bowing to the need for 10 Republican votes in the Senate to move the budget package forward, agreed to the increased defense funds.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell described the budget bill as a victory for his party even though many GOP lawmakeres will likely vote against it

‘I’m confident that both sides will find things in it they can enthusiastically support,’ said Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Democrats also had to abandon a number of their priorities to get the must-pass legislation ready to go, including reviving lapsed expanded payments to most families with children, emergency aid for the COVID pandemic and a bid to lift the cap on the nation’s borrowing limit. 

However, Democrats touted the first funding increase for the National Labor Relations Board in over a decade, increased clean energy funding and more funding for affordable housing. 

The bill’s unveiling was held up by some intra-state squabbling related to location of the FBI’s future headquarters. 

Powerful Democratic lawmakers in Virginia and Maryland each want the building in their home state as the agency prepares to leave its downtown Washington D.C. location for a new home.

In a compromise, each side agreed to language requiring the government to have detailed consultations with teams from both states before picking a site, a Senate Democratic aide told the New York Times.