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President Trump leaves the Oval Office to board the Marine One helicopter as he leaves the South Lawn of the White House on Friday August 31, 2018. (Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post)
President Trump on Friday signed a massive spending plan that avoids government closure and increases funding for next year's military and health and education programs.
The measure requires lawmakers to reconsider other litigation in just two months, including whether to spend billions of dollars building a wall along the US-Mexico border. .
The new law avoids a partial closure of the government, as it extends funds allocated to the Pentagon and health and education programs until September 30, 2019 and several other programs until December 7.
Funding for these programs was should expire Sunday at midnight.
This spending package reflects the compromise sought by Republican leaders with the White House, which postpones the fight for Trump's demand for a border wall until the mid-term elections on November 6th.
The law sets the Pentagon's new budget for 2019 at $ 606.5 billion, an increase of $ 17 billion and a major priority for the White House and Republicans.
Funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Labor and Education Departments, would reach $ 178 billion, an increase of $ 1 billion and $ 11 billion more than the White House . This was a major priority for Democrats.
Because the Republicans do not control the Senate very much, they need the support of the Democrats to pass spending bills.
The legislation marks the continuation of a sharp increase in funding since Trump took office, a marked departure from GOP requirements during the Obama administration to cut spending. White House officials have said they want to cut spending, but they have little weight because Democrats can block changes in the Senate.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the government is expected to spend nearly $ 4.5 trillion next year, but less than half of that amount will be approved by Congress. The rest is automatically disbursed through programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
For months, Trump has claimed billions of dollars from Congress for building a wall along the Mexican border, and he wanted this funding to be included in the new spending package. But GOP leaders felt this would sow discord ahead of the mid-term elections and convinced Trump to postpone the debate on funding until Americans vote.
Trump, however, said he expected Republicans to get this funding after the elections, and GOP leaders did not say how they planned to do it. Most Democrats – and some Republicans – have voiced their opposition to creating a wall along the Mexican border. Some White House officials have asked for up to $ 5 billion for construction this year, although the final price would probably be much higher.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump described the wall as a major campaign promise, saying it would prevent drugs and immigrants. He also promised that Mexico would finance the construction of the wall, which the Mexican government has refused to do repeatedly.
The House of Representatives, where Republicans control a large majority, sought to spend $ 5 billion on the construction of the wall, but Senate legislators only agreed to spend $ 1.6 billion on border security.
Although lawmakers have rejected decisions regarding the border wall and some other programs until December, they have made more progress than usual in other areas. Trump enacted a law that provided credits for military construction and energy and water programs, as well as funding for the legislative branch for a year.
Expenditure bills that will have to be reviewed before 7 December include agriculture, housing, internal security and foreign aid. But it is the decision on the border wall that should dominate the debate.
Erica Werner contributed to this report.
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