US Senate & House approve spending & border security bill to avert gov’t shutdown

Both houses of the US Congress have passed a spending and border security bill, dodging a new government shutdown. Lacking the funds for President Trump’s border wall, the bill opens the door to him declaring a national emergency.

Passed by both the Republican-controlled Senate and Democrat-controlled House, the bill now moves to the White House. While Trump is expected to sign it, the president has made it clear he will declare a national emergency to get the funding for his wall. The bill provides just $1.375 for fencing at the US-Mexico border, a far cry from the $5.7 billion Trump requested.

The spending bill, which funds several government agencies to the tune of over $300 billion, passed the Senate with a vote of 83-16 and the House with a vote of 300-128 on Thursday. It also provides over $22 billion for “border security initiatives,” including upgraded technology at ports of entry, assistance for illegal immigrants apprehended crossing the border, and more border patrol hires. It will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year and provide a 1.9 percent pay raise for federal workers, as well as a $1 billion increase in funding for the Census Bureau.

Both parties have framed the bill as a victory. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced his approval of Trump’s decision to use a national emergency to requisition more money for his wall, and Republicans pointed to the addition of more steel slat border fencing as a win.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill a “fair compromise,” noting they had gotten away without funding “the president’s expansive and ineffective wall.” The wall was at the heart of the impasse that caused the longest shutdown in US history, shuttering the government for almost two months as both parties refused to back down.

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