President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a two-year budget deal that raises spending limits and suspends the debt ceiling for two more years.
The GOP-controlled Senate approved the bill, 67-28, on Thursday, after the Democratic-controlled House approved it, 284-149, last week.
The bill allows for a $320 billion increase in government spending, a number that rankled most Republicans in Congress and prompted many to vote against the deal. It also suspends the debt ceiling through mid-2021. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Trump had urged Republicans to support the bill.
The deal sets federal spending limits, increasing military and nonmilitary spending. Military spending would increase to $738 billion from $716 billion in fiscal 2020, which begins Oct. 1, and to $740.5 billion the subsequent fiscal year.
Nonmilitary programs, such as immigration and border enforcement, Medicaid, forest management and health programs, would grow to $632 billion from $605 billion next year and $634.5 billion the next year. It also adds to the deficit, which has risen since Trump came into office.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said this week that the budget agreement could reduce the likelihood of another government shutdown next month. Congress passed a spending package this year that only funded the government through September after a historic 35-day shutdown that crippled Washington.
