Lawmakers release text of $1.2 trillion spending bill as shutdown deadline nears

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers released the text of a $1.2 trillion government funding bill early Thursday morning. White House and leaders of both parties to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend.

The spending agreementAnnounced Tuesday, it includes funding for the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Labor, Health and Human Services and other parts of the government.

Those federal agencies are scheduled to shut down Saturday if the funding package is not passed by Thursday. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the bill into law, but it’s unclear if Congress will have enough time to pass it before the deadline.

Funding for DHS, which oversees the politically explosive issue of immigration, was the most contentious part of the negotiations. After the remaining appropriations bills were settled, he extended the talks for a few more days.

It is the last funding package Congress must pass this fiscal year, which ends after September. That leaves lawmakers a little more than six months to start over for the 2025 fiscal year.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., put some distance between the conference and the deal, saying in a statement Tuesday that the DHS component was the product of “negotiations between the Biden administration and House Republicans.” camera.

After the House passes the bill, the Senate will require unanimous consent for a quick vote.

“After the House sends us a funding package, I will put it on the floor of the Senate without delay,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “We haven’t had a government shutdown since 2019. There’s no good reason for us this week.”

Schumer warned senators that preventing a shutdown would require them not to engage in “unnecessary partisan haste.”

“Congress has found a path forward to fund the Department of Homeland Security that will allow us to complete the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process in the coming days,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

“As always, progress depends on strong cooperation,” he said.