March 21, 2024 (EIRNS)—This morning the U.S. Congress was hit with a $1.2 trillion government funding package, consisting of more than 1,000 pages. The leadership plans on votes tomorrow, as the deadline on another government shutdown is reached. The departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State, and the legislative branch itself are facing a shutdown after March 22. A lot is not clear as to what is in the package, but it is clear that no House or Senate member will have read the full document on which he or she is voting.
CNN’s summary states that the package “provides $19.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection, a $3.2 billion increase above fiscal year 2023, and includes $495 million for additional Border Patrol agents, which the Biden administration has repeatedly called for. It does not add funding for the border wall.” The official Department of Defense funding goes up $26.8 billion, to an $824.3 billion level. (This is before the expected add-ons of supplementals.)
