US President, Joe Biden on Thursday signed a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill that will keep the US government funded through the next fiscal year.
The bill includes a number of administration priorities and officially avoids a government shutdown, ending what he called a “year of historic progress.”
Biden signed the bill while vacationing on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, and tweeted a picture of himself signing the bill into law.
“Today, I signed the bipartisan omnibus bill, ending a year of historic progress.”
“It’ll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, VAWA funding – and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine. Looking forward to more in 2023.”
Today, I signed the bipartisan omnibus bill, ending a year of historic progress.
It'll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, VAWA funding – and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine.
Looking forward to more in 2023. pic.twitter.com/KTI1R9qMij
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2022
The funding bill received Republican support in the evenly divided Congress, ensuring easy passage — and another legislative victory for Biden as his second year in office comes to a close.
Even critics have expressed grudging admiration for the Biden administration’s ability to produce results as the 80-year-old Democrat prepares to decide whether to run for re-election in 2024.
Ukraine, which is facing a full-scale Russian invasion, will receive $45 billion in the emergency military and economic aid under the bill. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington earlier this month to request additional US assistance.
The bill also includes amendments, such as tightening a 19th-century law to clarify that vice presidents do not have the authority to overturn election results.
This is meant to avoid a repeat of Donald Trump’s chaotic gambit to avoid conceding defeat to Biden in the 2020 presidential election, including attempting to coerce his vice president, Mike Pence, to halt certification of Biden’s victory.
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