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CHRISTIANSTED, V.I. — President Biden signed a $1.7 trillion spending invoice into legislation on Thursday, averting a shutdown and maintaining the federal government funded by September whereas including to his legacy of increasing federal applications as president.
The signing was not a shock; Mr. Biden had pushed Congress to succeed in a deal on funding the federal government forward of a deadline on the finish of this month, and he had cheered the invoice when it handed the Senate after which the Home.
However the setting for the invoice signing was uncommon. As a substitute of staging a ceremony within the White Home, Mr. Biden wielded his pen on the island of St. Croix, the place he’s vacationing by the brand new yr. White Home officers obtained the greater than 4,000-page invoice from Congress late on Wednesday afternoon and despatched it to the Virgin Islands on Thursday on a industrial flight.
The invoice, which cleared Congress on Dec. 23, was the final main legislative accomplishment of the primary two years of Mr. Biden’s tenure within the White Home, when Democrats narrowly managed each the Home and the Senate.
It included vital spending will increase for nationwide protection and for home spending not associated to the army, reflecting divergent partisan priorities in Washington. The invoice put apart $858 billion in protection funds, which Republicans had pushed for, and greater than $772 billion for the training, well being and veterans applications Democrats have supported. That cash included vital new assist to Ukraine to assist in its battle in opposition to the Russian invasion.
Lawmakers tacked a number of disparate agenda gadgets onto the invoice, together with more cash for legislation enforcement throughout the nation, a set of recent guidelines meant to assist People save extra for retirement and an overhaul of the federal process for counting electoral votes in a presidential election — a response to former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to disrupt the rely of the 2020 election, which he misplaced, on Jan. 6, 2021.
The invoice was the second sprawling authorities funding measure handed in the course of the Biden administration. As a result of Republicans gained management of the Home within the midterm elections in November, it was additionally the ultimate alternative for congressional Democrats to form the federal finances whereas accountable for each chambers.
Mr. Biden signed the invoice behind closed doorways, on a day when he made no public appearances and took no questions. He stated in a written assertion that the measure advances “key priorities for our nation and caps off a yr of historic bipartisan progress for the American folks.”
Emily Cochrane contributed reporting from Washington.
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