Congress set to vote on bipartisan spending package


Congress is expected to vote Thursday on a bipartisan budget deal worth nearly $400 billion. The two-year deal includes a roughly $300 billion bump for military spending and domestic programs, as well as nearly $90 billion for disaster relief.
The bill's passage would finance the federal government until September and allow Congress to work on a more robust long-term budget bill, The New York Times says. Additionally, the budget includes compromises meant to placate both Democrats and Republicans, including $6 billion to fight the opioid crisis and $4 billion to fund health care for veterans.
But many Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), are hesitant to support the bill because it doesn't include a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants, also known as DREAMers. Pelosi, however, has reportedly avoided demanding that her Democratic colleagues formally oppose the spending bill. Other Democrats like Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.), who sits on the House Budget Committee, say the bill needs to pass: "If Democrats cannot support this kind of compromise, Congress will never function."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) admitted the proposal was far from "a perfect bill," but called it "our best chance … to make progress on issues directly affecting the American people."
The bill is not without its opponents on the other side of the aisle. Fiscal conservatives, like Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have raised concerns about its cost. The bill "[doubles] down on the irresponsible mentality in Congress of spend-now-pay-later," Corker said. On Wednesday night, the conservative House Freedom Caucus announced its opposition to the bill, saying that "growing the size of government by 13 percent is not what the voters sent us here to do."
Ryan predicted Thursday that the proposal would pass his chamber. Without a deal, the government will shut down Friday.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
Acid rain is back: the sequel nobody wanted
Under The Radar A 'forever chemical' in rainwater is reviving a largely forgotten environmental issue
-
Book reviews: 'Clint: The Man and the Movies' and 'What Is Wrong With Men: Patriarchy, the Crisis of Masculinity, and How (Of Course) Michael Douglas Films Explain Everything'
Feature A deep dive on Clint Eastwood and how Michael Douglas' roles reflect a shift in masculinity
-
Recreation or addiction? Military base slot machines rake in millions.
Under the Radar There are several thousand slot machines on military bases
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively