Biden signs $1.2 trillion funding bill, averting government shutdown
President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion funding package that keeps the US government running through Sept. 30, averting a partial shutdown.
The White House announced the signing on Saturday after the US Senate approved the package in the early morning hours. That ended a partisan tug-of-war, marked by repeated infighting among Republicans over amendments. With a midnight deadline looming, Senate leaders beat back efforts by conservative Republicans to enact deep spending cuts and restrictions on migration.
Biden applauded passage of the funding package, but also prodded lawmakers to approve assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies that has been stalled for months, as well as a measure that would tighten security at the US-Mexico border.
“I want to be clear: Congress’s work isn’t finished,” Biden said in a statement Saturday.
NATO’s top civilian official said last week that Ukraine is “running out of ammunition,” echoing warnings by the country’s allies, including the US.
The funding package increases defense appropriations by 3% while keeping overall domestic spending flat. Temporary spending measures had funded the federal government for the first six months of the federal fiscal year.
