House to Vote on $1.2 Trillion Spending Deal Hours Before Shutdown Deadline

The House is set to vote on a $1.2 trillion spending package on March 22 to fund 70 percent of the government and therefore avert a partial shutdown.

While the House will likely pass it overwhelmingly, as demonstrated by an expedited process that requires a two-thirds majority for passage—in addition to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) waiving the House rule that requires members to have 72 hours to review legislation before it is voted on—how fast it will pass the Senate is uncertain.

The bill could pass the Senate quickly if no senator objects to expediting the process.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a libertarian and spending hawk, has not ruled out slowing down the bill’s passage in the Senate, telling The Hill he would try to amend the package, which could result in delaying passing the bill on time.

The bill would fund the Departments of State, Defense, Treasury, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

The Pentagon would get $825 billion—$27 billion more than in the 2023 fiscal year—including $92 million more than requested by the Biden administration to improve U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s deterrence amid the threat from China. There is $108 billion allocated for U.S. security cooperation with Taiwan and $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which consists of training, equipment, and other means to aid Ukraine.

However, direct funding for Ukraine and Taiwan is not in the spending bill as Congress is stuck trying to pass a supplemental assistance package for Taipei and Kyiv as Republicans have called for stringent border measures in exchange. The GOP blocked a Senate bill that consisted of assistance for Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan, and some specific border security measures.

The annual $3.3 billion for Israel is in the bill, as has been the case for the past several years. This comes amid the latest conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.

The bill allocates $1.8 billion to the Treasury Department, minus the IRS, which would get $12.3 billion. The appropriation for the IRS would be the same as it was in the 2023 fiscal year.

The appropriations bill also prevents the IRS from transferring more funds from its accounts for enforcement.

Other Appropriations

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would get $61.8 billion, a $1.1 billion increase over the 2023 fiscal year. Customs and Border Protection would receive $400 million toward combating the influx of fentanyl, a major problem as the deadly drug crosses the southern border via cartels and other sources.

The bill allocates $2.2 billion for processing asylum seekers and related purposes.

DHS will have 24 percent more beds in detention centers for illegal immigrants and an additional 22,000 Border Patrol agents, as proposed under a tough border security bill previously passed by the GOP-controlled House that was dead in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The funding also covers 41,500 detention beds, also proposed under the previous House bill.

There will also be 12,000 additional special immigrant visas awarded to Afghan allies who helped the United States during the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan, from which the United States and its allies hastily withdrew in mid-2021 as the Biden administration came under fire for abandoning those allies who served in numerous roles, such as interpreters.

The Department of Health and Human Services would receive $116.8 billion, a $3.9 billion decrease from the 2023 fiscal year, though the National Institutes of Health would get $48.6 billion this year, $300 million more than last year.

The Education Department would get $79.1 billion, a $500 million decrease from the 2023 fiscal year.

The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development would get $11.8 billion, a $5.6 billion decrease from the 2023 fiscal year.

This includes $300 million for Taiwan and conditions assistance to Gaza, which Hamas controls.

No funding was allocated through March 2025 for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA has come under fire for what critics call propagating hatred for the Jewish state in schools.

Moreover, the bill also includes $200 million for the new FBI headquarters, which will be built just outside Washington in Greenbelt, Maryland—a contentious issue for Republicans.

Not Everyone Satisfied

Both Democrats and Republicans got policy victories, though some members on both sides are expected to oppose the bill despite the expected overwhelming support it will get in both the House and Senate to send it to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature, averting a partial government shutdown.

“We’re in a bad spot. And it’s a bad process, but we’re in a bad spot because previously we’ve done things we ought not to have done. And I believe we need to push back on the Senate,” Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) told The Epoch Times.

“But do we push back on this moment in history? Probably not,” he continued. “But we need to be laying the pieces to a future understanding where we have some power to tell the Senate to pound sand.”

Finally, it does not appear that Mr. Johnson’s speakership is in jeopardy, whereas his predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), was stripped of the gavel after pushing through a spending bill.

“If we vacate this speaker, we’ll end up with a Democrat speaker,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the push to oust Mr. McCarthy.

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), who was one of the members who voted to oust Mr. McCarthy from the speaker’s chair, said he would be against doing the same to Mr. Johnson.

Earlier this month, Congress passed and President Biden signed a $460 billion bill to fund 30 percent government agencies including the Justice Department and Department of Transportation.

Joseph Lord contributed to this report.