Bill due in House; won, says each side

WASHINGTON — The White House and top lawmakers on Monday endorsed a $1.1 trillion spending bill to carry the nation through September, erasing the threat of a disruptive government shutdown.

“We’re very happy with it,” President Donald Trump said Monday in an interview. The president said he will sign the bill if it remains “as we discussed.”

Negotiators released the 1,665-page bill after Republicans over the weekend dropped numerous demands on the environment, financial regulations from the President Barack Obama era and abortion. The bill is scheduled for a House vote on Wednesday, with a Senate vote ahead of a Friday midnight deadline.

Democrats said the deal shows they retain considerable clout under Trump.

“We thought we had the upper hand because a government shutdown would be on their shoulders, and we made that clear,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in an interview. “We knew that if we didn’t push things too far, we could get a good deal that could make us happy, and that’s what happened.”

But the White House and some top GOP allies declared victory with the bill, citing billions of dollars more for the military. Trump won a $15 billion down payment on his request to strengthen the military, with $2.5 billion contingent on a new plan to defeat the Islamic State extremist group.

Vice President Mike Pence told CBS News on Monday that the administration “couldn’t be more pleased” and called the agreement a “budget

deal that’s a bipartisan win for the American people.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., praised the bill as well, saying it “acts on President Trump’s commitment to rebuild our military for the 21st century and bolster our nation’s border security to protect our homeland.”

“We have boosted resources for our defense needs without corresponding increases in non-defense spending,” Ryan said in a statement.

Trump and the White House had made concessions last week when the president relented on his demand that the measure include a $1.4 billion down payment for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Congressional Republicans and Democrats also ignored Trump’s proposal to cut billions of dollars from domestic programs.

Democrats boasted of money for foreign assistance and cash-strapped Puerto Rico while winning funding for favored programs such as transit projects and grants for first responders. They also defied Trump on a bid to punish

“sanctuary cities” and on immigration enforcement.

Talks on the spending bill were spurred by the need for Democratic votes to pass spending bills. Although Republicans hold majorities in both houses of Congress, the bill must overcome the objections of GOP fiscal conservatives in the House and the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.

“I think you’re going to see conservatives have some real concerns with this legislation,” Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said on CNN’s New Day, citing domestic spending obtained by Democrats and other issues. “Our job is to do what we told the voters we were going to do.”

Republicans also want to move on to a repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as an overhaul of the tax code.

“If nothing else, it does allow

the president to have at least one major success this week, which is great,” said White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. “He’s going to sign his first substantive piece of legislation this week, and it’s going to make dramatic increases in funding to his priorities.”

The bill to fund the government through the end of September protects higher-education programs that Mulvaney has proposed cutting in 2018, setting the stage for a fight over appropriations before the end of the year.

The congressional budget agreement reached Sunday pares back total federal spending on education by $60 million, but upholds or increases funding for a series of higher-education programs aimed at low-income students.