WE'VE GOT A DEAL: Congress just released a massive $1.3 trillion plan to avoid a government shutdown

pulse

March 21, 2018 4:26 PM

The $1.3 trillion omnibus bill will include funding to combat the opioid crisis, increase border security, protect voting systems, and build new infrastructure.

Congress is racing to avoid another government shutdown on Friday.
Leaders released a 2,232-page funding bill on Wednesday to avert one.
While the bill would provide funding for a slew of programs, it is also notable for what it does not include.

In what now seems like a monthly tradition in Washington, Congress is barreling toward a government-shutdown deadline, and leaders are banking on a massive last-minute deal to avoid any disruption.

After February's short-lived shutdown produced the outline of a two-year spending agreement, congressional leaders rolled out a more detailed omnibus spending package on Wednesday, two days before the shutdown deadline.

The 2,232-page bill would allocate nearly $1.3 trillion of federal funding over the next two years for everything from the military, to disease prevention, to job-training programs. The bill also includes funding for particular legislative projects favored by both parties and key tweaks to federal law.

The bill is a result of long negotiations among the "big four" congressional leaders: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Here's a rundown of some of the major parts of the deal:

$1.3 billion in new funding for border security, with serious limitations:
Increased funding to protect election systems:
Nearly $4 billion to combat the opioid crisis:
$10 billion in new funding for infrastructure:
Increased funding for the 2020 Census:
A fix to the GOP tax law:
would have been seriously disruptive
The bill also includes an extra $320 million
Changes to gun laws
clarification of existing funding language

Both parties were fighting for significant legislative priorities to be part of the final package but did not appear to make the final cut. Some omissions include President Donald Trump's call — echoed by House conservatives — to defund so-called sanctuary cities, as well as a centrist plan to provide funding to shore up the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces.

Additionally:

Since the bill was released on Wednesday and the House is projected to pass it on Thursday, a single senator could delay its consideration on Friday until after the shutdown deadline at midnight. Such a scenario would be similar to Sen. Rand Paul's one-man shutdown in February that forced a roughly six-hour lapse in funding.

pulse