U.S. Congress to debate $1.66 trillion government funding bill - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Democrats and Republicans successful the U.S. Congress were moving guardant with a $1.66 trillion authorities backing bill, scrambling to walk a measure, which includes grounds subject spending, earlier impermanent backing runs retired connected Friday.

The full backing projected by the sweeping bill, released aboriginal connected Tuesday, is up from the astir $1.5 trillion the erstwhile year.

It includes different measures agreed connected by negotiators from some parties, including a prohibition connected the usage of TikTok connected government-owned devices and clarification of Congress's relation successful certifying elections, an effort to debar a repetition of the unit of Jan. 6, 2021.

Senate and House of Representatives leaders purpose to walk the measure and nonstop it to Democratic President Joe Biden by the extremity of the week to guarantee nary interruptions to the government's activities.

Failure could bring a partial authorities shutdown opening Saturday, conscionable earlier Christmas, and perchance pb into a months-long standoff aft Republicans instrumentality power of the House connected Jan. 3, breaking the grip of Biden's Democrats connected some chambers of Congress.

"From backing for nutrition programs and lodging assistance, to location vigor costs and assemblage affordability, our bipartisan, bicameral, omnibus appropriations measure straight invests successful providing alleviation from the load of ostentation connected the American people," Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said successful a statement.

Included successful the measure is $44.9 cardinal successful exigency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies and $40.6 cardinal to assistance communities crossed the United States recovering from earthy disasters and different matters.

The Ukraine funds would beryllium utilized for subject training, equipment, logistics and quality support, arsenic good arsenic for replenishing U.S. instrumentality sent to Kyiv. It besides includes backing to hole for and respond to imaginable atomic and radiological incidents successful Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not ruled retired the usage of atomic weapons successful the struggle with Ukraine.

This wealth would beryllium connected apical of the grounds $858 cardinal successful subject spending for the year, which is up from past year's $740 cardinal and besides exceeds Biden's request.

On the non-defense broadside of the ledger, the bill's negotiators person acceptable backing astatine $800 billion, a $68 cardinal summation implicit the erstwhile year.

WISH LIST

Democrats and Republicans alike had aimed to tuck arsenic galore legislative wish-list items arsenic imaginable into the "omnibus" measure backing the authorities done the extremity of this fiscal twelvemonth connected Sept. 30, 2023, without derailing the full package.

This was the 2nd twelvemonth successful a enactment Congress included backing for hundreds of mostly unrelated projects requested by idiosyncratic lawmakers. Congress had abandoned specified "earmarks" a decennary agone aft a bid of corruption scandals, but person brought them backmost successful caller years arsenic a mode to physique legislative buy-in for spending bills.

Among the astir important add-ons is the bipartisan Electoral Count Act, which overhauls and clarifies Congress' certification process for statesmanlike elections.

Democrats and galore Republicans spot the measure arsenic important to avoiding a repetition of the chaos that occurred astir 2 years agone erstwhile a mob of Donald Trump supporters attacked the Capitol gathering successful an effort to overturn Biden's victory.

U.S. lawmakers besides included a connection to barroom national employees from utilizing Chinese app TikTok connected government-owned devices. And they backed a connection to assistance a looming deadline imposing a caller information modular for modern cockpit alerts for 2 caller versions of Boeing Co's (BA.N) 737 MAX aircraft.

Boeing and aviation unions lobbied for the inclusion of that provision, portion information advocates - including relatives of those who died successful 737 MAX level crashes - pushed backmost hard.

Other provisions ranged from further backing for the U.S. Capitol Police, to a measurement supported by Maine's delegation that delays caller regulations aimed astatine protecting the endangered close whale, a triumph for lobstermen successful the state.

Measures near retired see authorities that would person provided citizenship to "Dreamer" immigrants, who illegally entered the United States arsenic children.

Criminal justness betterment advocates besides came distant mostly empty-handed, aft a compromise measurement that would person dramatically lessened the sentencing disparity betwixt ace cocaine and pulverization cocaine collapsed.

The cannabis manufacture besides suffered a decision aft a intimately watched measurement that would person shored up banking regulations for ineligible marijuana companies was excluded.

Reporting by Richard Cowan and Gram Slattery successful Washington, further reporting by Andy Sullivan successful Washington and Jahnavi Nidumolu successful Bengaluru; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis

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