Last night, the Senate quickly passed the $1.5 trillion government spending bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk before the shutdown deadline tonight. The final vote was 68-31 on the 2,700-page, $1.5 trillion omnibus containing all 12 fiscal 2022 spending bills and $13.6 billion in supplemental appropriations to address the crisis in Ukraine. As Republicans sought, the omnibus allows for almost equal increases in defense and nondefense spending from last year’s levels, with a $46 billion or 6.7 percent boost for nondefense programs and a $42 billion, 5.6 percent increase in defense accounts. Democrats had sought roughly double that amount for nondefense programs. As expected and designed, the three GOP amendments leaders agreed to hold votes on did not pass: 1. An amendment from Louisiana Senator John Kennedy to add $2.5 billion for hurricane relief was rejected, 35-64, under a 60-vote threshold. 2. An amendment from Mike Lee, (R-Utah), to overturn President Joe Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandates for private employers, health care workers, federal employees and military servicemembers was rejected, 49-50. 3..An amendment from Mike Braun, (R-Indiana) to strip home-state earmarks out of the measure was rejected, 35-64.
House Democratic leaders were forced to strip the pandemic aid from the omnibus after weathering a rebellion from members who objected to how the money would be offset. The bill had called for clawing back unspent funds from previous relief laws, including $7 billion in aid to state governments. Some Democrats said their states would have been unfairly targeted for cuts. House leaders said they would take up separate legislation next week for the pandemic aid — without cutting the $7 billion from state governments. But the additional deficit spending assumed in that bill could sink its chances in the evenly divided Senate.
The Senate is now in recess until 3:00 P.M. on Monday, March 14th and will then resume consideration of the nomination of Shalanda D. Young to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The House is in recess until Tuesday and will reconvene for votes at 6:30 P.M. House Democrats are holding their Issues Conference today in Philadelphia and earlier heard from President Biden.
