Senate passes two-year budget deal, sending bill to Trump's desk
The Senate on Thursday approved a two-year budget deal that set new spending limits and suspended limits on Washington’s borrowing capabilities.
The massive, bipartisan legislation passed the Republican-controlled Senate by a margin of 67-28 and will now go to President Trump’s desk for his signature.
Altogether, the bill increases discretionary spending limits by nearly $324 billion over the next two years and raises the debt ceiling well beyond the 2020 presidential election. It allocates about $1.37 trillion in funding for the first year, with $738 billion for defense spending and $632 billion in non-defense spending.
"Given the exigencies of divided government, we knew that any bipartisan agreement on funding levels would not appear perfect to either side. But the administration negotiated a strong deal,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Thursday.
Although some conservative Republicans worried the package was too expensive — FreedomWorks, a conservative policy group, called the budget deal a "disgrace" — Trump urged them to pass it ahead of the vote.
"There is always plenty of time to CUT!" he wrote on Twitter.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus took an official position opposing the budget deal.
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The U.S. was expected to hit the debt ceiling in early September, so establishing an agreement on spending levels could help Congress avert another government shutdown — lawmakers still need to pass individual spending bills to avoid an Oct. 1 shutdown, but the spending deal could help reduce the chances of that.