The House of Representatives passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill on March 9, sending more military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and funding the federal government until September.
While the defense section of the bill passed 361-69 and the domestic expenditure portion passed 260-171, the $15.6 billion proposed for COVID-19 response was dropped as Democrats rushed to get the package approved, CBS News reports.
Before the bill was sent to the White House for approval, the Senate also acted on it. Per CBS, the emergency aid package won the final congressional approval on March 10.
Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee said that the 2,741-page omnibus package includes $782 billion in defense spending up 5.6% from last year.
In addition, the bill allocates $730 billion to non-defense spending, a 6.7% increase over the fiscal year 2021, and the “largest increase in 4 years,” according to Patrick Leahy, the committee’s head.
Around $56 million will also be put toward “democracy programs” in countries such as Venezuela and Russia, both of which are in the midst of an oil crisis due to the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.
The bill reads, “Of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘Economic Support Fund,’ not less than $40,000,000 shall be made available for democracy programs for Venezuela.”
Another $10 million is set to improve television and radio broadcasting capabilities in multiple countries, including Venezuela and Cuba, in a further effort to support human rights and democracy.
Meanwhile, $6 million is to be used in an international leadership fund for Russians “engaged in free-market development, humanitarian initiatives, and civic participation,” but will “not be utilized for officials of Russia’s central government.”
The bill’s official passage comes a week after the White House urged Congress to approve $10 billion in military, humanitarian and economic aid for Ukraine.
The financing pool swiftly expanded to $12 billion, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that it went as high as $14 billion before the Congress settled on the final amount with widespread bipartisan support, per The New York Post.
“War in Europe has focused the energies of Congress to getting something done and getting it done fast,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Not all groups are pleased with the final product, however.
Several Republican officials, as well as The Heritage Foundation, criticized the bill’s spending objectives.
In a statement posted March 9, the foundation urged Republicans to oppose the bill’s passage, saying it was “loaded with the Biden administration’s radical progressive policies.”
In contrast, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged after the bill passed that Democrats ultimately did not get everything they wanted, specifically coronavirus aid.
The Biden administration initially sought $22.5 billion more in funding for coronavirus response, only to see their request dropped in Pelosi’s last-ditch efforts to salvage the rest of the package.
On the afternoon of March 9, some Democrats debated cuts to state and local aid to pay for more coronavirus relief, forcing the House to postpone a vote on the funding bill. In the end, Pelosi gave up the new COVID-19 money, a decision she called “heartbreaking” in a statement.