A $13.6 billion emergency package of military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and its European allies easily won final congressional approval Thursday.
easily won final congressional approval Thursday, hitching a ride on a government-wide spending bill that's five months late but loaded with political prizes for both parties.
Around half the $13.6 billion measure was for arming and equipping Ukraine and the Pentagon's costs for sending U.S. troops to other Eastern European nations skittish about the warfare next door. Much of the rest included humanitarian and economic assistance, strengthening regional allies' defenses and protecting their energy supplies and cybersecurity needs.
The $1.5 trillion bill carrying that aid gave Democrats a near 7% increase for domestic initiatives, which constituted a bit less than half the package. That translated to beefed-up spending for schools, housing, child care, renewable energy, biomedical research, law enforcement grants to communities and feeding programs.
Besides those policy victories, many lawmakers of both parties had one incentive to back the spending package that they have not enjoyed since 2010. Democratic leaders restored the old practice of earmarks, hometown projects for lawmakers that Congress dropped in 2011 because voters viewed it as a sleazy misspending of taxpayers' money.
Months of talks finally produced the compromise spending pact this week. With the latest temporary spending measure expiring Friday night, Mr. Biden's signature of the $1.5 trillion bill would avert a weekend federal shutdown — which was never going to happen because neither party had any reason to spark such a battle.
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