House Passes $459 Billion Spending Package to Prevent Shutdown

The legislation, now heading to the Senate, aims to fund federal agencies through the next six months, with a more challenging set of bills due soon.

The House approved a $459 billion spending package to avert a partial government shutdown, sending it to the Senate with a deadline of midnight Saturday.
The package includes funding for various departments such as Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Commerce, and Energy.
The spending package faced criticism from both hard-line conservatives for not including certain policy riders and from some Democrats for concessions made to GOP-backed provisions.
Speaker Mike Johnson highlighted the package as a step away from traditional omnibus bills, aiming for a more structured appropriations process.
A second, more challenging set of spending bills covering departments like Defense, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services is due by March 22.