Worthy Christian News > US News > Biden Signs $1.2 Trillion Budget Bill Funding Government Through Fiscal Year

Biden Signs $1.2 Trillion Budget Bill Funding Government Through Fiscal Year

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion spending bill into law, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown despite missing a midnight deadline.

With Biden signing the bill, the government will be funded until September 30, 2024. This gives Congress and the White House slightly more than six months to reach an agreement on funding for the following fiscal year.

“The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open, invests in the American people, and strengthens our economy and national security. This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted,” the White House said in a statement.

Released in the early hours of Thursday morning, while most of America slept, the expansive “minibus” bill, encompassing over 1,000 pages and totaling $1.2 trillion, was swiftly passed through the House on Friday under the guidance of House Speaker Mike Johnson. The measure passed with a vote of 286 to 134; it surpassed the two-thirds supermajority required, utilizing a special procedure initiated by Johnson to overcome internal GOP disagreements.

Later, in the early hours of Saturday, the Senate approved the spending bill with a 74-24 vote, paving the way for the legislation to be sent to the President’s desk.

The legislation Biden signed on Saturday funds the Departments of Defense, Labor, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, State, and Education, as well as the legislative branch.

The funding bill was passed shortly after the government entered a brief partial shutdown, which lasted just two hours before the bill was passed.

Many Republicans were outraged by the omnibus bill, which included earmarks totaling millions of dollars for woke items, including transgender hormones and underwear.

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “No Republican in good conscience can vote for the uniparty minibus. This is not a Republican bill. It is a Chuck Schumer, Democrat-controlled bill coming from the ‘Republican-controlled’ House. The Speaker of the House should not bring it to the floor.”

She led a motion to oust the Speaker, stating on the steps of the Capitol, “I filed a motion to vacate after Speaker Johnson has betrayed our conference and broken our rules. I respect our conference; I paid all my dues to my conference; I’m a member in good standing, and I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and to throw the House in chaos.”

Nonetheless, the spending bill does not include funding for Ukraine and Taiwan. A separate aid package for both countries is currently stalled in Congress, with Republicans demanding tougher domestic border security measures as a condition for their support.

During his Saturday address, President Biden urged Congress to continue working to secure additional funding for Kyiv and Taipei, emphasizing the importance of completing their legislative tasks.

“I want to be clear: Congress’s work isn’t finished. The House must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental to advance our national security interests,” he stated. He further highlighted the necessity of a bipartisan approach to border security, “And Congress must pass the bipartisan border security agreement—the toughest and fairest reforms in decades—to ensure we have the policies and funding needed to secure the border.”

“It’s time to get this done,” he concluded, calling for decisive action.

However, House Speaker Johnson has emphasized the necessity for any border security proposals to align closely with the House’s flagship border bill, the Secure the Border Act—a measure Democrats have declared a non-starter.

“Over the next two weeks, we will be in active discussions among members and leadership to roll out an aggressive plan to highlight the contrasts between the two parties on the catastrophe at the Southern border that is killing countless Americans,” Mr. Johnson stated. He expressed a call to action, saying, “We will introduce a series of meaningful bills to begin to fix the problem, and we welcome sensible Democrats in the House and Senate to join us,” Speaker Johnson stated.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently unveiled its long-term budget projection, indicating that public debt is expected to surge to 166 percent of the gross domestic product by 2054. This rising debt trajectory will likely hinder economic growth, elevate interest payments to international holders of U.S. debt, and pose considerable challenges to the nation’s fiscal and financial stability.