Politics
Why Democrats Are Thrilled With GOP Budget
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The House passed a massive $1.3 trillion spending bill Thursday, helped significantly by Democrats who were pleased to vote for a significant increase in domestic spending.
“This isn’t the bill I would have written, but I’m proud it provides $117 billion more than President [Donald] Trump requested in non-defense investments to grow the economy, create jobs, and help American families,” Democratic New York Rep. Nita Lowey said on the House floor before the vote Thursday.
Lowey also thanked the Republican leadership and the House Committee on Appropriations “for its tireless work forging this bipartisan package.”
The omnibus legislation, a total of 2,234 pages long, raises defense spending by around $80 billion, but otherwise does not advance many of Trump’s agenda items. For example, the bill gives $1.6 billion for border security, including to build current wall projects, but does not authorize spending on any new prototypes or wall projects.
The bill passed by a vote 256 – 167, but oddly enough, most of the dissenting votes came from Republicans, who hold the majority, and not Democrats.
Ninety Republican members of the House voted against the bill, compared to 77 dissenting Democrat votes. In total, 145 Republicans and 111 Democrats voted in favor of a bill.
The funding bill has a good chance of gaining Democratic support in the Senate as well. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has praised several measures included in the bill, and said in a statement Thursday that he is “urging my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to vote for this bill.”
The bill provides $1.5 billion for physical barriers, technology advancements and more agents for the southern border, but doesn’t provide funding for any new wall prototypes. The bill also limits how many Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can be hired, continues funding for sanctuary cities and Planned Parenthood.
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