US Senate passes huge spending bill to avert govt shutdown

The US Senate passed a USD 1.3 trillion federal spending bill in dramatic dark-of-night fashion early today, overcoming hurdles that threatened to send the government into its third shutdown of 2018.

Lawmakers stared down a self-imposed deadline of midnight today, when federal funding was set to expire, and passed the mammoth package by a vote of 65-32, with hours to spare.

With the House of Representatives comfortably passing the bill yesterday, it now goes to the White House for President Donald Trump's signature, as lawmakers began their escapes from Washington to start a two-week holiday.

The bill was introduced late Wednesday after weeks of haggling, leaving lawmakers mere hours to peruse and vote on a mega-bill that will touch every aspect of American life.

Defense spending levels for this fiscal year ending September 30 were set at USD 700 billion, an increase of USD 61 billion over the 2017 cap. Non-defense domestic spending will reach USD 591 billion, a hike of about 10 per cent.

Even though Trump had given his blessing to the bipartisan deal, the 2,232-page bill's fate in the Senate was up in the air throughout Thursday, with one of Trump's fellow Republicans, Rand Paul, threatening to stall the voting process.

"I think you ought to read the bills before we vote on them," Paul told Fox News. "I've been working all day diligently through the bill and I'm up to page 600."
"Time and again, spending skyrockets, and conservatives are expected to fall in line to praise the party for making the big-spending status quo worse."
"Is it perfect? No," acknowledged Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget. "Is it exactly what we asked for? No."