Thursday, President Biden signed a $1.7 trillion budget measure into law, preventing a government shutdown and funding the government until September while adding to his image as a president who expanded federal services.
The signing was not unexpected; Mr. Biden had urged Congress to strike a compromise on financing the government before a deadline at the end of the month, and he had applauded the bill’s passage through the Senate and the House.
But the bill signing took place in an unusual context. In lieu of holding a ceremony in the White House, Mr. Biden is now on vacation on the island of St. Croix. The White House got the more than 4,000-page measure from Congress late Wednesday afternoon and sent it to the Virgin Islands by commercial jet on Thursday.
The package, which passed Congress on December 23, was the final significant legislative achievement of Mr. Biden’s first two years in the White House, when Democrats had a slim majority in the House and Senate.
Wednesday, Shelby said that the top line is around $1.7 trillion, but he declined to explain. The Alabama Republican said that the precise allocations to each federal agency are still being debated.
In light of ideological divisions between the two parties about how much money should be spent on nondefense domestic issues, it has been difficult to reach a bipartisan agreement for a full-year government spending arrangement.
Republicans criticise recent domestic spending by Democrats and contend that measures Democrats approved while controlling both houses of Congress, like as a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan and a comprehensive health care and climate policy, are wasteful and would exacerbate inflation. According to Democrats, these steps were required to aid in the nation’s recovery from the tragic effects of the epidemic and to address other crucial objectives.
