The Senate on Thursday voted 68-29 to pass a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill after working through a disagreement on immigration policy that had stalled the measure's passage.
The measure includes $858 billion in military spending, $772.5 billion in non-defense discretionary spending and $45 billion in aid for Ukraine and NATO allies.
The bill keeps the government funded until the end of September 2023.
“The bill is so important to get done because it will be good for families, for veterans, our national security, even for the health of our democratic institutions,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).
Now, the legislation heads to the House, which could hold a vote as early as Thursday.
The bill "keeps government open and meets the needs of the American people," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
Several Republicans criticized the size of the more than 4,000-page bill: Senator Rick Scott (R., Fla.) said, "It's three times the size of the Bible. It's Democrats' spending."
Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah) said Republicans should have supported a short-term spending bill to allow the new Congress to “start the spending process over again in January” when Republicans take control of the lower chamber.
The bill’s passage hit a bump Wednesday when Republicans sought to add immigration language to the legislation.
Lee called for a vote to cut funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless the Trump-era Title 42 policy remained in place. The policy has allowed the U.S. to enforce border-control measures as a means to prevent the spread of communicable diseases during the Covid-19 pandemic. Border officials have warned that Title 42's end could bring an explosion of illegal immigration,
Schumer agreed to hold a vote on the amendment on Thursday, which would have needed a simple majority to pass, but also queued up a vote on another amendment from Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I., Ariz.) that would have kept Title 42 in place and increased funding for immigration enforcement and processing. Sinema’s amendment would have required 60 votes to pass.
Lee criticized Sinema's amendment as "a ruse designed to provide political cover for people who recognize the crisis on the border and want to appear to be doing something about it."
Both amendments failed to pass.
The final bill did include changes to the 1887 Electoral Count Act, however, in an effort to make it more difficult to block the certification of a presidential election. The measure also includes revisions to the U.S. retirement system and a stricter ban on the use of TikTok on government devices.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) celebrated a number of GOP wins in the bill on Thursday.
"The world's greatest military will get the funding increase that it needs, outpacing inflation. Meanwhile, nondefense, non-veterans spending will come in below the rate of inflation, for a real-dollar cut," McConnell said on the Senate floor.
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