US House passes $1.1T spending bill

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass an omnibus $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the federal government.

The 309-118 vote paves the way to fund the U.S. government through September.

The bill now heads to the Senate where it is expected to pass and be sent to President Donald Trump to sign into law.

Lawmakers were forced to pass a short-term spending bill last Friday that funded the government for a week in order to give them more time to compromise on longer-term spending legislation.

The passage in the House marks the first major bipartisan piece of legislation that has made its way through either chamber of Congress since Trump assumed office in January.

The White House has strongly defended the spending bill, calling it a victory for military spending, and hailing the measure as a compromise between Democrats and Republicans. But on Twitter, Trump struck a different tone, threatening that the U.S. "needs a good shutdown' in September to fix mess!”.

While a unified Republican Party can get a spending bill through the House without Democratic support, they must garner support from across the aisle to pass a critical 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

Republicans hold only 52 seats in that chamber with Democrats holding 46. The two independents normally caucus with Democrats.

As such, several of Trump's controversial proposals are not part of the current bill, including most notably funding for his much-touted wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico.

The proposal was one of Trump's premier campaign pledges and he vowed to have Mexico pay for it. But expectedly, Mexico has refused even the suggestion that it foot the bill.