Following the Senate’s lead from last week, the House cleared yesterday the massive spending package that combines the annual Labor-HHS-Education and Defense spending bills by a vote of 361-61. The Senate approved it by a vote of 93 to 7. The bill also includes a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund through December 7 the other agencies and programs whose funding bills are not signed into law by next Monday.
Earlier this week, there had been some uncertainty about whether the president would actually sign the package because it did not contain the funding his wants for a border wall along the Southern border. It now appears that he will indeed sign it.
The CR could now apply to a larger number of bills– seven– than originally hoped for. House and Senate negotiators have spent the last several weeks trying to reach a compromise on a combined package of four more appropriations measures and it remains uncertain at this point whether an agreement can be reached and signed into law before the House recesses on Friday. Among the bills under discussion are those that would fund the departments of Interior and Agriculture.