Congress approved a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill to keep the federal government running through Sept. 30.
The Senate passed the measure by a 79-18 vote on Thursday, following a 309-118 vote by the House on Wednesday. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill.
The deal continues current funding levels for federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission. House Democrats eliminated more than 160 Republican “poison-pill riders,” including one that would have rolled back some Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act consumer protections, and one that would have barred the Department of Labor from implementing its fiduciary rule.
It makes permanent health-care benefits for union mine workers but does not address pension liabilities of the severely underfunded $4.4 billion United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan, Washington.
The spending deal was necessary because Congress did not agree on individual spending bills, and a temporary funding measure was set to expire Friday. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said during Senate debate that more last-minute deals instead of appropriations bills are likely due to “fiscal cowardice … we are going to see this move again and again and again.”
