U.S. Lawmakers Ok $1.7-T Budget To Avert Shutdown, Fund Ukraine

Congressional leaders have unveiled a government-wide $1.7 trillion spending package that includes a large round of aid to Ukraine, a 10% boost in defense spending, and roughly $40 billion in emergency spending, mostly to assist communities across the US recovering from drought, hurricanes, and other disasters.

Photo Insert: “The bitterness of winter has descended on Eastern Europe, and if our friends in Ukraine hope to triumph Russia, America must stand firmly on the side of our democratic friends abroad,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858 billion for defense and would last through the end of the fiscal year at the end of September, Kevin Freking reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Lawmakers worked to stuff as many priorities as they could into the sprawling package, likely the last major bill of the current Congress. They are racing to complete passage before a midnight Friday deadline or face the prospect of a partial government shutdown going into the Christmas holiday.

Lawmakers leading the negotiations released the details of the bill shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday.

The spending package includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine. It would be the biggest American infusion of assistance yet to Ukraine, above even President Joe Biden’s $37 billion emergency request, and ensure that funding flows to the war effort for months to come.

“The bitterness of winter has descended on Eastern Europe, and if our friends in Ukraine hope to triumph Russia, America must stand firmly on the side of our democratic friends abroad,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The legislation also includes historic revisions to federal election law that aim to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election.

The bipartisan overhaul of the Electoral Count Act is in direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

“We are now one step closer to protecting our democracy and preventing another January 6th,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had warned that if the fiscal year 2023 spending measure failed to gain bipartisan support this week, he would seek another short-term patch into next year, guaranteeing that the new Republican majority in the House would get to shape the package, AP staff writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Amanda Seitz also reported.

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