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| House Passes $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill; Focus Shifts to Senate as Clock Ticks | House Passes $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill; Focus Shifts to Senate as Clock Ticks |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| WASHINGTON — The House gave swift approval on Thursday to a $1.3 trillion spending bill that would fund the government through September, shaking off the objections of its most conservative members and voting less than 24 hours after the 2,232-page document was unveiled. | WASHINGTON — The House gave swift approval on Thursday to a $1.3 trillion spending bill that would fund the government through September, shaking off the objections of its most conservative members and voting less than 24 hours after the 2,232-page document was unveiled. |
| With government funding set to expire at midnight Friday, the focus is now on the Senate, whose approval is needed to avert what would be the third government shutdown of the year. | With government funding set to expire at midnight Friday, the focus is now on the Senate, whose approval is needed to avert what would be the third government shutdown of the year. |
| By Thursday night, it remained uncertain when the Senate might vote. Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, who caused an hourslong shutdown last month as he protested soaring government spending, used Twitter to vent his frustration with the spending bill, but he was noncommittal about whether he would block the Senate from voting before Friday’s deadline. | |
| “It’s never been my goal to shut down government,” Mr. Paul said on Fox News, acknowledging that the spending bill would sail through the Senate eventually, despite his opposition. | |
| The spending bill, which congressional leaders agreed to on Wednesday and President Trump seemed to grudgingly endorse on Twitter, would provide big increases to the military and to domestic programs — and clearly rebuff the Trump administration’s efforts to sharply scale back the reach and scope of the federal government. | The spending bill, which congressional leaders agreed to on Wednesday and President Trump seemed to grudgingly endorse on Twitter, would provide big increases to the military and to domestic programs — and clearly rebuff the Trump administration’s efforts to sharply scale back the reach and scope of the federal government. |
| The bill funds the government for the 2018 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1 and is already almost halfway over. Congress paved the way for this week’s legislation with a two-year budget deal last month that raised strict limits on military and domestic spending by about $140 billion this year. | |
| In dividing up the spoils of that budget agreement, Congress broadly rebuked the Trump administration’s initial vision for the federal government. The president’s desire to drastically cut spending on the environment was rebuffed. Programs like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, far from being eliminated, were spared any reductions. Not only did the administration’s request for deep cuts to the National Institutes of Health go nowhere, but Congress gave the agency an additional $3 billion. | In dividing up the spoils of that budget agreement, Congress broadly rebuked the Trump administration’s initial vision for the federal government. The president’s desire to drastically cut spending on the environment was rebuffed. Programs like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, far from being eliminated, were spared any reductions. Not only did the administration’s request for deep cuts to the National Institutes of Health go nowhere, but Congress gave the agency an additional $3 billion. |
| “Sometimes you save the president from themselves,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the health institutes. | “Sometimes you save the president from themselves,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the health institutes. |
| The spending bill “repudiates the abysmal Trump budget, investing robustly in critical priorities like child care, transportation infrastructure, national security, election protection, medical research, opioid abuse prevention and treatment, veterans’ health services and much more,” said Representative Nita M. Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. | The spending bill “repudiates the abysmal Trump budget, investing robustly in critical priorities like child care, transportation infrastructure, national security, election protection, medical research, opioid abuse prevention and treatment, veterans’ health services and much more,” said Representative Nita M. Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. |
| At the White House, Mr. Trump’s top advisers worked to put the best face on a package they conceded fell short of fully funding his priorities and contained many items he would rather not have accepted. | At the White House, Mr. Trump’s top advisers worked to put the best face on a package they conceded fell short of fully funding his priorities and contained many items he would rather not have accepted. |
| “In order to get the defense spending, primarily, but all the rest of our priorities funded, we had to give away a lot of stuff that we didn’t want to give away” to Democrats, Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, told reporters during a briefing where he also highlighted funding in important areas like the military, school safety, border security and combating the opioid crisis. | “In order to get the defense spending, primarily, but all the rest of our priorities funded, we had to give away a lot of stuff that we didn’t want to give away” to Democrats, Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, told reporters during a briefing where he also highlighted funding in important areas like the military, school safety, border security and combating the opioid crisis. |
| “My job is to get the president’s priorities funded, which this does,” added Mr. Mulvaney, a onetime budget hawk in Congress who routinely voted against large spending packages and sidestepped a question on whether he would have done so for the measure now before lawmakers. “The president wants it to pass and wants it to be signed.” | “My job is to get the president’s priorities funded, which this does,” added Mr. Mulvaney, a onetime budget hawk in Congress who routinely voted against large spending packages and sidestepped a question on whether he would have done so for the measure now before lawmakers. “The president wants it to pass and wants it to be signed.” |
| But the bill landed with a thud among conservatives who are still on Capitol Hill. The House Freedom Caucus, whose founding members included Mr. Mulvaney, formally opposed it and sent a letter to Mr. Trump urging him to reject it. | But the bill landed with a thud among conservatives who are still on Capitol Hill. The House Freedom Caucus, whose founding members included Mr. Mulvaney, formally opposed it and sent a letter to Mr. Trump urging him to reject it. |
| Another founding member of the Freedom Caucus, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, said the spending bill was “maybe the worst bill I’ve ever seen” and recalled the 2016 election that put Republicans in full control of Washington. | Another founding member of the Freedom Caucus, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, said the spending bill was “maybe the worst bill I’ve ever seen” and recalled the 2016 election that put Republicans in full control of Washington. |
| “Nov. 8, 2016, I doubt that the voters were saying, ‘Put Republicans in power so that they can pass a bill that continues to fund sanctuary cities, continues to fund Planned Parenthood,’” he said. “Really? Really? That’s what the election was about?” | “Nov. 8, 2016, I doubt that the voters were saying, ‘Put Republicans in power so that they can pass a bill that continues to fund sanctuary cities, continues to fund Planned Parenthood,’” he said. “Really? Really? That’s what the election was about?” |
| Among other things, the bill includes $1.6 billion for more than 90 miles of physical barriers along the border with Mexico, as well as related technology. But that sum is far short of what Mr. Trump would need to construct the expansive border wall that he promised in his campaign for president. | Among other things, the bill includes $1.6 billion for more than 90 miles of physical barriers along the border with Mexico, as well as related technology. But that sum is far short of what Mr. Trump would need to construct the expansive border wall that he promised in his campaign for president. |
| The bill does not address the fate of young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children and have been shielded from deportation by an Obama-era program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that Mr. Trump moved last year to end. | The bill does not address the fate of young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children and have been shielded from deportation by an Obama-era program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that Mr. Trump moved last year to end. |
| As November’s midterm elections loom, the spending bill will allow lawmakers from both parties to go home and claim success on a wide range of issues, including beefing up the military and providing much-needed funding for priorities like battling the opioid crisis and rebuilding crumbling infrastructure. | As November’s midterm elections loom, the spending bill will allow lawmakers from both parties to go home and claim success on a wide range of issues, including beefing up the military and providing much-needed funding for priorities like battling the opioid crisis and rebuilding crumbling infrastructure. |
| That additional spending comes at the expense of adding even further to the national debt, which has topped $21 trillion. The growing debt has seemed of minimal concern on Capitol Hill in recent months, where Republicans passed a sweeping tax overhaul late last year that will also result in piling up more debt. | |
| Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, an outspoken deficit hawk who nonetheless voted for the tax overhaul, called the spending bill “one of the most grotesque pieces of legislation I can remember.” | Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, an outspoken deficit hawk who nonetheless voted for the tax overhaul, called the spending bill “one of the most grotesque pieces of legislation I can remember.” |
| “I know it’s going to pass overwhelmingly because there’s too much in it to make people happy for the moment,” he said. “But let me just say, down the road, the American people are going to be very unhappy with our lack of responsibility.” | “I know it’s going to pass overwhelmingly because there’s too much in it to make people happy for the moment,” he said. “But let me just say, down the road, the American people are going to be very unhappy with our lack of responsibility.” |
| Aside from the bill’s contents, the process for approving it this week left bruised feelings as well, as the bill was not made public until Wednesday night. | Aside from the bill’s contents, the process for approving it this week left bruised feelings as well, as the bill was not made public until Wednesday night. |
| “In all honesty, none of us know what is actually in this bill,” Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Thursday morning, just hours before House members were asked to vote on it. | “In all honesty, none of us know what is actually in this bill,” Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Thursday morning, just hours before House members were asked to vote on it. |
| The House gave its approval early Thursday afternoon in a vote of 256 to 167. | The House gave its approval early Thursday afternoon in a vote of 256 to 167. |
| Though the bill’s eventual approval in the Senate is not in doubt, it is less clear when exactly that vote will take place. | Though the bill’s eventual approval in the Senate is not in doubt, it is less clear when exactly that vote will take place. |
| If a senator insisted, he or she could block the Senate from voting until early Saturday, causing a brief shutdown of the government. In a similar situation last month, Mr. Paul did exactly that, raising concerns that he could take another stand this week. | If a senator insisted, he or she could block the Senate from voting until early Saturday, causing a brief shutdown of the government. In a similar situation last month, Mr. Paul did exactly that, raising concerns that he could take another stand this week. |
| Mr. Paul has made clear in recent days that he disapproves of both the process for jamming the spending bill through Congress as well as the substance of the legislation. | Mr. Paul has made clear in recent days that he disapproves of both the process for jamming the spending bill through Congress as well as the substance of the legislation. |
| “I’m upset that we’re spending like every Democrat that we criticized,” he said this week. “I ran for office because I thought the Obama spending and trillion-dollar annual deficits were a real problem for our country, and now Republicans are doing the same thing, and so I’m giving them the same grief I gave Obama.” | “I’m upset that we’re spending like every Democrat that we criticized,” he said this week. “I ran for office because I thought the Obama spending and trillion-dollar annual deficits were a real problem for our country, and now Republicans are doing the same thing, and so I’m giving them the same grief I gave Obama.” |
| Mr. Paul fumed about the bill in a series of Twitter posts on Thursday, offering observations as he made his way through the legislation, which he said took more than two hours to print in his office. | Mr. Paul fumed about the bill in a series of Twitter posts on Thursday, offering observations as he made his way through the legislation, which he said took more than two hours to print in his office. |
| “On page 207,” he wrote in the afternoon. “2000+ pages to go! Reading about the ever wasteful $6 billion National Science Foundation.” | “On page 207,” he wrote in the afternoon. “2000+ pages to go! Reading about the ever wasteful $6 billion National Science Foundation.” |