U.S. House passes second massive spending package ahead of shutdown deadline

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House on Friday approved the second spending package aimed at funding part of the government agencies and programs until September, sending it to the Senate before the midnight deadline to prevent a partial shutdown.

The lower chamber approved the package, which was unveiled early Thursday, in a vote of 286 to 134.

The 1.2-trillion-U.S.-dollar package would provide funding for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State and the legislative branch through the fiscal year 2024, which ends Sept. 30.

The proposed package would allocate approximately 62 billion dollars in overall discretionary funds for Homeland Security, which was the most contentious part of the appropriation bills when negotiated by lawmakers.

"House Republicans have achieved significant conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts to wasteful agencies and programs while strengthening border security and national defense," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said in a statement.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, however, downplayed victories for conservatives, saying that the bill did not include the vast majority of conservative policy proposals.

Earlier this month, Congress authorized annual funding for several departments including agriculture, energy and the environment, housing, transportation, veterans and the Justice Department.

Since the start of fiscal year 2024 on Oct. 1, 2023, the Congress previously approved stopgap funding measures in September 2023, November 2023, and January and late February.

The latest stopgap funding measures prolonged the deadlines of March 1 and March 8 until March 8 and March 22, buying Congress more time to craft annual spending bills.