House sends $1.3 trillion spending bill to the Senate, all eyes on Rand Paul
The House has passed a $1.3 trillion spending package that will increase funding for the military and domestic spending and will keep the government funded through the end of September, but it's unclear whether the Senate can pass the proposal ahead of a shutdown deadline Friday night.
The legislation passed 256-167 with Democrats and Republicans coming together to pass it less than 24 hours after the 2,300-page bill was made public.
Now, it's up to the Senate to pass it before the government runs out of money Friday at midnight. The Senate need unanimous consent -- meaning all members have to agree -- to bring the bill up for a timely vote. If one member objects, it could force the government into a brief shutdown, which is why many congressional observers are watching Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who forced a brief shutdown last month using a similar procedural maneuver.
When asked in front of reporters by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy when the chamber will vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell smiled and said, "whenever Sen. Paul decides we can."
The Kentucky Republican has spent the past 24 hours criticizing the bill and the process by which the legislation is made public and passed.
"Shame, shame. A pox on both Houses - and parties. $1.3 trillion. Busts budget caps. 2200 pages, with just hours to try to read it," Paul tweeted.
Later Thursday afternoon he tweeted, "3. Reading this monstrous bill full of grant programs begun decades ago reminds me of Reagan's critique: the nearest thing to immortality is a government program."
The massive spending package marks the end of a months-long funding stalemate in which lawmakers were forced to pass one short-term spending bill after another to stave off a shutdown. The package includes more than just money to fight the opioid epidemic, pay the military and fund more than $21 billion in infrastructure projects. It also includes policy changes like one that would incentivize states to enter more records into the country's gun background check system and another that would cut off aide to the Palestinian Authority until Palestinians cease making payments to the families of terrorists.
President Donald Trump will sign the omnibus bill if it reaches his desk, Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters on Thursday.
Mulvaney admitted that the bill wasn't perfect and wasn't exactly what the White House wanted, but that -- on the whole -- the bill "funds (Trump's) priorities."
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