Biden says $1.2T spending package is ‘good news for the American people,’ but Congress’ work isn’t over

President Joe Biden thanked Congressional leaders Saturday after the Senate passed a controversial six-bill government funding package in the early hours of the day following a brief partial government shutdown. 

‘Thank you to Leaders Schumer and McConnell, Senators Murray and Collins, Speaker Mike Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and Representatives Granger and DeLauro, for their leadership,’ Biden said in a statement.

The President called the mammoth $1.2 trillion spending package ‘a compromise,’ which, he said, ‘means neither side got everything it wanted.’

‘But it rejects extreme cuts from House Republicans and expands access to child care, invests in cancer research, funds mental health and substance use care, advances American leadership abroad, and provides resources to secure the border that my Administration successfully fought to include,’ Biden said in a statement. 

The President proceeded to call the package ‘good news for the American people.’

‘But I want to be clear: Congress’ work isn’t finished,’ Biden continued in the statement. 

He went on to urge the House of Representatives to pass the bipartisan national security supplemental and Congress to pass the bipartisan border security agreement, calling it ‘the roughest and fairest reforms in decades’ in a means to secure the border. 

‘It’s time to get this done,’ Biden said. 

Senators voted in favor of passing the spending package by a vote of 74-24. The text for the group of bills was only unveiled in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The appropriations measures were then considered in the House Friday morning. They were ultimately passed by a vote of 286–134, with a majority of Republicans, 112, voting against them. 

Prior to the package’s approval by the upper chamber, the outlook for avoiding a partial government shutdown looked bleak, as Republican senators claimed Democrats were unwilling to take up their requested amendment votes. 

It was only in the last hour that senators appeared to have reached an agreement, returning to the chamber floor and exchanging papers prior to beginning the voting process. 

A $460 billion funding package that included six of the twelve appropriations bills passed in both chambers earlier this month, despite vocal Republican opposition to the amount being spent, what the money is being put toward, and what they described as breaches of procedure.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.