The Senate approved a government budget for the 2020 fiscal year on Thursday, sending the $1.43 trillion spending package to President Trump’s desk ahead of a potential government shutdown Friday.
The 2,300 page package includes 13 appropriation bills, and was split into two parts — domestic and military funding — after Trump threatened in March 2018 to “never sign another” omnibus spending package.
The domestic portion of the package passed by a 71–23 vote, while the military portion passed 81–11. The House had overwhelmingly approved both on Tuesday, with the former passing 297–120 and the latter passing 280–138.
“A lot of hard work brought this appropriations process back from the brink,” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said of the bills. “This legislation touches all 50 states. This is why full-year funding bills are better than chronic CRs.”
Other Republicans, howeverm complained about the timing and size of the package, arguing that it didn’t do enough to address fiscal concerns.
“Leaders and appropriators have cleverly put the negotiated spending agreement into two bills so that we can all pretend that it’s better than just one,” said Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah). “Even though they were negotiated at the same time, released to the public at the same time, and will be voted on within only minutes of each other.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) called the bill a “pile of trash,” while Rick Scott (R., Fla.) wrote that “it’s time to stop the madness. How many more trillions of dollars do we need to spend before we wake up to the danger of our national debt?”
Overall, the package increased government funding by nearly $50 billion from last year. Despite concerns, Trump is expected to sign the bill.