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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likely gave her final speech as a Party Leader in Congress in support of the passed Omnibus Bill. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

No shutdown for Christmas, House passes $1.7 trillion Omnibus Bill

A day after the Senate passed the bill, the House acted quickly on Dec. 23 to make sure the government remained funded through September 2023.

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After a major voting delay in the Senate over some parts of the massive government Omnibus Spending Bill, the House made quick work on the day before Christmas Eve to pass the $1.7 trillion bill with almost universal Democrat support to avert a government shutdown for the holidays.

Republicans had attempted to punt the issue of government spending until January, when they would have control of the House, but to no avail.

When it comes to spending the $1.7 trillion, $773 billion of it is going towards to non-defense discretionary spending (AKA it’s not going to the U.S. military) — a rise of 6% compared to last year’s funding. Defense spending increased to $858 billion — a 10% increase compared to 2022.

That’s a positive movement for Democrats, but still nowhere close to where they initially wanted spending to be — equal for both sides.

Forty-five billion dollars approved in the Omnibus Bill is also going towards Ukraine to replenish some of the military supplies it’s already received from the U.S. in its ongoing war with Russia. It will also further offer economic help and humanitarian aid. 

Another $27 billion is also going towards natural disaster aid, which will further aid recovery efforts in Florida, Puerto Rico and other parts of the U.S. Florida and Puerto Rico saw major hurricanes pass through and leave devastation, while wildfires and drought hit critical levels in the West, among other natural disasters to occur in 2022.

Along with the funding, the Omnibus Bill also acts as the last glutton of legislation of the Congressional calendar — as representatives and senators attempt to stuff as much stalled legislation without ruffling too many feathers into the bill for passage.

So what’s included this year? Everything from banning TikTok from government-issued devices to preventing another coup attempt like Jan. 6 by rethinking how the country counts electoral votes. The latter reforms the 1887 Electoral Count Act, the same law former President Donald Trump attempted to use in court to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election.

Elsewhere, the bill includes legislation that expands access to disability benefits, helps Americans save for retirement, and offers protections to pregnant workers from workplace discrimination, among many other things.

In what was likely her final speech as House Speaker from the floor, Rep. Nancy Pelosi highlighted the Omnibus Bill’s important passage to avoid a government shutdown, “but more importantly, to meet the needs of the American people.”

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the Omnibus Bill into law in the coming days, but did sign an emergency funding bill to earlier in the week to avert the shutdown for another week as funding would officially run out on Friday.

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