$1.5T Omnibus Bill Heads to White House After Full Congressional Approval

The Senate on Thursday voted 68-31 to pass a $1.5 trillion budget package to fund the federal government through the end of fiscal year 2022, sending the bill to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The omnibus package would provide $782 billion for the Department of Defense, which reflects a $42 billion increase from the previous fiscal year, and $730 billion in nondefense funding, up $46 billion from enacted FY 2021 funding.

The bill would allocate $13.6 billion in emergency funds for Ukraine in response to Russian invasion, including $4 billion in humanitarian assistance and over $3 billion to support European Command’s operations, intelligence and troop deployment efforts.

The measure also includes $1 billion in funds to establish a program that would fund research initiatives and treatments for Alzheimer’s, cancer and other diseases.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said lawmakers would work on a separate bill to fund testing, therapeutic medicines and vaccines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The House passed the omnibus bill Wednesday. The Senate vote came a day before a continuing resolution was set to expire.

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