The US House of Representatives has finally overcome a key spending hurdle after a week of Republican infighting. After days of posturing and back-and-forth between the two parties, the House, in a close 217-179 vote, approved a $1 trillion spending measure that sets the stage for negotiations on a final spending deal to fund the government through September 30th.
The bill comes after weeks of contention between the two parties that had threatened to derail the government funding process. Republican opponents of the bill had objected to the increase in spending from the current levels, and had demanded reductions in spending as part of an overall agreement.
The measure, which covers spending levels for a variety of departments, including; education, health and human services, agriculture, transportation, and housing, has been called a “compromise” by both sides in the course of negotiations. The increase in spending that the bill authorizes is said to fund a range of public programs, including disease prevention and treatment programs, job retraining, community development block grants and education.
Although the passage of this bill does not mean that the two parties have agreed upon a final version of the spending bill, it does signal a shift towards closing the gap between them. Democrats, who were previously demanding more funding for public programs, appear to be willing to accept a smaller increase in order to get the bill passed in the House.
For the remainder of the budget process, the House and the Senate will need to agree upon a final version of the spending bill and pass it through both chambers before it is presented to President Trump to be signed into law.
Overall, the approval of this measure gives congressional Republicans and Democrats breathing room to continue negotiating on the remaining details of the budget deal. Although there is still work to be done, the passing of this bill marks a major step in the direction of successfully passing a budget deal that both Houses of Congress can agree upon.