House passes $1.4T federal spending bill

WASHINGTON — The Democraticcontrolled House voted Tuesday to pass a $1.4 trillion governmentwide spending package, handing President Donald Trump a victory on his U.S.Mexico border fence while giving Democrats spending increases across a swath of domestic programs.

The hardfought legislation also funds a record Pentagon budget and is serving as a mustpass legislative locomotive to tow an unusually large haul of unrelated provisions into law, including an expensive repeal of Obamaera taxes on highcost health plans, help for retired coal miners, and an increase from 18 to 21 in nationwide legal age to buy tobacco products.

The twobill package, some 2,371 pages long after additional tax provisions were folded in on Tuesday morning, was unveiled Monday afternoon and adopted less than 24 hours later as lawmakers prepared to wrap up reams of unfinished work against a backdrop of Wednesday’s vote on impeaching Trump.

The House first passed a measure funding domestic programs on a 297120 vote. But onethird of the Democrats defected on a 280138 vote on the second bill, which funds the military and the Department of Homeland Security, mostly because it funds Trump’s border wall project.

The spending legislation would forestall a government shutdown this weekend and give Trump steady funding for his U.S.Mexico border fence, a move that frustrated Hispanic Democrats and party liberals. The yearend package is anchored by a $1.4 trillion spending measure that caps a difficult, monthslong battle over spending priorities.

The mammoth measure made public Monday takes a splitthedifferences approach that’s a product of divided power in Washington, offering lawmakers of all stripes plenty to vote for — and against. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., was a driving force, along with administration pragmatists such as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who negotiated the summertime budget deal that it implements.

The White House said Tuesday that Trump will sign the measure.

”The president is poised to sign it and to keep the government open,” said top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.

The bill also offers businessfriendly provisions on export financing, flood insurance and immigrant workers.

The roster of addons grew over the weekend to include permanent repeal of a tax on highcost “Cadillac” health insurance benefits and a hardwon provision to finance health care and pension benefits for about 100,000 retired union coal miners threatened by the insolvency of their pension fund. A tax on medical devices and health insurance plans would also be repealed permanently.