President Joe Biden speaking on Wednesday in Arizona. Darryl Webb/AP
This weekend, President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to avert a potential government shutdown. The Senate passed the more than 1,000-page bill early Saturday morning, with 74 senators voting in favor and 24, mostly-Republican, senators voting against.
In a statement released by the White House on Saturday, Biden said that the “bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open, invests in the American people, and strengthens our economy and national security.” At the same time, he added, “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted.”
The White House did not specify the tradeoffs. Republican priorities that made it into the bill include funding for 2,000 additional Border Patrol agents and money for additional detention beds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, Biden said the measure expands “access to child care, invests in cancer research, funds mental health and substance use care.”
Some of the most controversial provisions relate to Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. The bill blocks funding from going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency—the most important organization serving Palestinian refugees in Gaza and throughout the region—until March 2025. The move comes after Israel alleged in January that a dozen........