Leaders release $1.2 trillion relief bill as Congress races to avert a shutdown

Top congressional negotiators unveiled the $1.2 trillion bill in the early hours of Thursday to fund the government through September, though it remained unclear whether Congress would be able to act in time to secure a ​​to avoid a short partial government shutdown over the weekend.

Lawmakers are rushing to pass the legislation before Friday’s midnight deadline to avoid losing resources for more than half of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon and health agencies. They are already six months behind schedule due to protracted negotiations to resolve funding and policy disputes.

Now that they’ve agreed on a final package that includes six spending bills, passage could slip past 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning due to a series of arcane congressional rules. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives indicated they planned to vote on the bill on Friday, bypassing a self-imposed rule requiring lawmakers to be given at least 72 hours to review the legislation before voting on it.

More hurdles could arise in the Senate, where a lawmaker’s objection to quick passage of the legislation could prolong debate and delay a final vote.

Democrats and Republicans both highlighted victories in the hard-negotiated legislation. Republicans cited as victories funding for border patrol agents, additional detention beds managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a provision cutting off aid to the main United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinians. Democrats provided increases in funding for federal child care and education programs, cancer and Alzheimer’s research.

“We’ve had to work within difficult budget constraints – but this bipartisan compromise will move our country forward,” said Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington and chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

The legislation funds roughly 8,000 more detention beds than last year’s law, a provision that Republicans in the House of Representatives fought bitterly for. Congress funded 34,000 beds through the fall of 2023, but the emergency measure currently funding the department increased the number of beds to about 42,000. Negotiators agreed to keep funding flowing to support that higher number.

It also increases funding for technology at the southern border by about 25 percent.

Lawmakers wrote the measure to comply with the debt and spending deal negotiated last year by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden. It called for spending on domestic programs to be held essentially steady — even as funding for veterans programs continues to grow and military spending increases slightly.

That translated in part into cuts to the State Department’s budget and foreign aid programs, a frequent target of criticism from the Republican Party.

Republicans also successfully included a provision in the legislation that would ban funding from going to UNRWA, the main U.N. agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza, through March 2025, which could create a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars for the agency cause. The measure would extend a pause in funding that the White House and lawmakers from both parties supported after Israel in January accused at least 12 UNRWA employees of taking part in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel led by Hamas.

“Republicans in the House of Representatives are committed to strategically increasing defense spending, making targeted cuts to overfunded non-defense programs and reducing wasteful spending from prior years,” said Rep. Kay Granger, Republican of Texas and Speaker of the Appropriations Committee. “I am proud to say that we have delivered on that promise, and this bill is proof of that.”

Democrats have managed to secure significant increases in spending on child care and education programs and health research, driven by the two top Democratic appropriators, Ms. Murray and Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who have worked for decades on initiatives to to lift children. out of poverty.

The legislation includes a 9 percent increase in funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, the nation’s primary child care program, and a $275 million increase for Head Start. It also includes an increase of $120 million in funding for cancer research.

“This bipartisan bill ensures that our workforce is strong, families are healthy and safe, and our children’s futures are secure,” Ms. DeLauro said.