Topline
Senators passed a fiscal year 2023 budget Thursday that would fund the government until September 30 of next year through a sprawling piece of legislation, known as the “omnibus bill,” packed with provisions and reforms that impact everything from election integrity to Medicaid.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, (D-N.Y.), left, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, … [+]
Key Facts
The budget, passed 68-29 in the upper chamber less than 48 hours before the current funding measure was set to expire, includes $858 billion in defense spending and $773 billion in what’s referred to as non-defense spending, including $45 billion in funding for Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
Eighteen Republican senators joined all Democrats in voting in favor of the legislation, despite threats from conservative House Republicans who said they would stonewall any future legislation proposed by Republican senators who voted for its passage–an effort to extend negotiations into next year under a GOP-controlled House.
In passing the bill, senators also approved reforms to the Electoral Count Act that would clarify that the vice president’s role in presiding over Congress’ certification of the presidential election results is strictly ministerial and would require at least one-fifth of members of both chambers to object to the process–changes designed to prevent a repeat of former President Donald Trump and his allies’ attempts to contest the results in 2021.
Among the other notable provisions, the bill would reverse a pandemic-era policy that prevented states from kicking people out of Medicaid programs, which saw a 30% surge in enrollment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bill includes $785 million for migrant services such as food and shelter–money that is expected to be doled out to sanctuary cities that have seen a surge in migrants in the past year, including Sen. Chuck Schumer’s home state of New York.
$15 billion was set aside for 7,200 earmarks to fund projects in lawmakers’ home states, including $3.6 million for the Department of Transportation to fund a hiking trail named after Michelle Obama in Georgia and a $3 million earmark for the New York Historical Society and American L.G.B.T.Q. Museum Partnership Project–both subjects of GOP criticism.
Tangent
Senators announced early Thursday they had reached an agreement to pass the bill following a last-minute tussle over the expiration of the Trump-era Title 42 program that allowed federal agents to deny migrants at the border. An amendment proposed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) would have halted the expiration of Title 42, which was kept in place past its Wednesday deadline this week by a judge overseeing a case filed by 19 Republican states seeking to uphold the program indefinitely. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and John Tester (D-Mont.) proposed a competing amendment that would have called for Title 42 to be lifted once an alternative plan is put in place and provided more money for border security. Both failed.
Key Background
The government is currently operating under what’s known as a “continuing resolution” passed by Congress last week in order to give it more time to negotiate a full-year funding deal. The legislation is an extension of another continuing resolution approved at the end of September that maintained fiscal year 2022 funding levels through December 16.
What To Watch For
The legislation now heads to the House, where it is expected to be approved late Thursday or early Friday before heading to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2022/12/22/senate-passes-17-trillion-budget-billhere-are-some-of-the-most-notable-items-including-money-for-sanctuary-cities-and-15-billion-in-earmarks/