The House on Friday approved a trio of government funding bills that the White House has already threatened to veto if they land on President Biden’s desk, setting the stage for a bitter spending fight later this year.
The three measures — funding foreign operations and the departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security — have virtually no chance of becoming law amid opposition from the White House and Democrats in the House and Senate over the spending levels, partisan policy riders and poison pill amendments.
But Republicans, nonetheless, have sought to clear their version of the spending bills to put the party in a stronger negotiating position during talks with Democrats down the road.
The bills were approved in largely party-line votes: The Pentagon measure passed 217-198, the State Department/foreign operations bill cleared 212-200, and the Homeland Security measures crossed the finish line in a 212-203 vote.
The Pentagon legislation appropriates $833 billion in discretionary spending, marking a 1 percent bump from fiscal 2024.
The State Department/foreign operations, meanwhile, proposes a roughly 11 percent cut in discretionary spending — or $7.6 billion — and allocates 19 percent less funding than Biden’s budget request.
The Homeland Security legislation allocates $64.8 billion in discretionary spending.
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