Huge $1.7 trillion spending package passes in U.S. Senate, backed by both parties

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion funding package Thursday that carries emergency aid for natural disaster recovery and the Ukrainian war effort, pushing past disputes over immigration policy and barely meeting a Friday deadline when current funding runs out.

The bill, supported by both Democrats and Republicans, now goes to the U.S. House, which could act yet Thursday. The overwhelming majority of Republicans there are expected to vote against sending the measure to President Joe Biden after unsuccessfully trying to hold over negotiations until next year when they’ll control that chamber. Biden has said he would sign the omnibus bill.

The package, approved on a 68-29 Senate vote just hours after an address to Congress by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, includes $45 billion in new military and humanitarian aid to assist Ukrainians in their fight against Russia’s invasion. That brings the U.S. investment in the war to more than $111 billion. Sixty votes were needed for passage.

It would also make notable changes, negotiated by lawmakers, in the state-federal Medicaid health insurance program for low-income Americans and people with disabilities. The package would allow states to begin removing some millions of residents from Medicaid as soon as April and would phase out the bump in federal funding states got during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep people on the health care program.

The measure was the last Senate vote of the current Congress; lawmakers will reconvene in January.

Pregnant workers, Title 42

Before approving the bill, senators voted to reject seven amendments and adopt eight during a four-hour vote series. The modifications to the package included provisions dealing with standards for pregnant workers; state use of COVID-19 funding; and protections for nursing mothers. Senators rejected amendments dealing with Title 42, a controversial public health policy used to turn away migrants at the border.

Among the votes:

Senators voted 73-24 to adopt an amendment from Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy that added the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to the package. Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr., a primary sponsor of the bill, said the amendment would set a standard for “reasonable accommodations” to ensure “that if a woman is pregnant in the workforce, she can do her job and have a healthy and safe pregnancy.” Cassidy argued the measure would do “what we want for ourselves, our wives, our sisters and our daughters.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also backed its inclusion, saying “the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is one of the most significant improvements to workplace protections in years. Tens of millions will be covered under this legislation, especially millions who work low-income jobs, long hours and get little support.” The measure is extremely close to a version of the bill approved by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, though lawmakers strengthened “protections for religious employers,” according to Cassidy’s office.

The Senate adopted by voice vote an amendment from Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn and California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla that would give local, state and tribal governments more flexibility in how they use unspent COVID-19 funding from the federal government.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, had their amendment adopted by voice vote. It would allow the U.S. Justice Department through the Secretary of State to transfer proceeds seized from Russian oligarchs under sanctions or other Russian entities under sanctions to Ukraine.

The Senate, 92-5, adopted an amendment from Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski that added the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act to the package. Merkley said the amendment broadens a bill Congress passed in 2010 to allow nursing mothers time and space to pump breast milk while at work. Murkowski said the provision is “good for babies, it’s good for new mothers, it’s good for employers to get these women back into the workforce.” HELP Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement the measure would “help close loopholes that leave nearly nine million working moms uncovered by federal protections to ensure they have reasonable break time and a private place to pump.”

The Senate rejected an amendment from Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester that would have addressed Title 42. The pandemic-era policy, originally put in place during the Trump administration, allows the border patrol to turn away migrants under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s public health authorities. Title 42 was set to expire Wednesday, but the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in an ongoing court case, temporarily keeping the program in place until the justices can take further action. “This amendment keeps Title 42 until a permanent plan is in place, boosts desperately needed border funding for security, invests in our agents and officers, and stops the flow of dangerous drugs,” Sinema said. Tester said the provision would have approved additional funding “for judges and legal officials to ensure orderly processing” as well as providing resources for law enforcement at the Southern border and overriding the Biden administration’s decision to sunset Title 42. The 10-87 vote on the Sinema-Tester amendment, which would have provided $8.7 billion, fell short of meeting the 60-vote threshold set for adoption.

The Senate rejected a separate Title 42 amendment from Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee that would have extended Title 42 by preventing the federal government from spending any money to end the designation. The vote was 47-50. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin spoke against Lee’s amendment, saying “this is not about public health anymore. It is our excuse for not tackling the very real challenge and coming up with a border policy on a bipartisan basis.”