The Senate Thursday cleared two fiscal 2020 spending bills for President Trump’s signature, beating a Dec. 20 deadline and eliminating the threat of a partial government shutdown for the remainder of the year.
Senate lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the spending package in two bills that Trump, who won some border wall funding in the legislation, is expected to sign into law by Friday.
One measure funds eight federal departments, including Health and Human Services, Labor, Agriculture, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs.
A second package funds the remainder of the government, including the Defense Department, Homeland Security, and other agencies. The measure includes $1.375 billion in funding for the construction of a southern border wall as well as other border security provisions.
Congress is now poised to dodge a spending showdown and a partial government shutdown that has become a regular occurrence thanks to partisan differences.
Last year, part of the government remained closed for 35 days because Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a deal to fund the border wall.
This year, Democrats agreed to allow wall funding and other border security budget numbers to remain at 2019 levels, which satisfied Republicans.
The measure provides far less than the $8 billion Trump was seeking for a border wall, but it allows him to maintain the transfer authority he used earlier this year to redirect money to the wall from other parts of the federal budget.
Trump earlier this year took $7 billion from other parts of the federal budget and used the money to construct the border wall, which border patrol officials said would help them stop the surge of migrants who have been crossing into the United States from Mexico.
Many House Democrats voted against the measure in the House due to their objection to the border wall and border security funding.
Both measures cleared Congress thanks to bipartisan support.
“The president retains critical transfer authority that will allow him to devote additional resources to border security and immigration enforcement,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, said. “The objective here, the outcome, I believe, is to make America strong.”
