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Congress has averted a government shutdown and passed a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Dec. 16, which also includes $12.3 billion in new Ukraine aid supplemental funding.
The Senate on Thursday voted 72 to 25 in favor of the continuing resolution and the House then passed the bill 230 to 201 on Friday afternoon, sending the legislation to President Biden’s desk for final signature.
“I am proud that some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle joined House Democrats in passing this legislation that also includes resources to help communities across the country recover from natural disasters and necessary emergency funding to support the Ukrainian people in the face of Russia’s grievous invasion. But passing this bill is just a temporary measure as Congress turns to enacting final 2023 funding bills before the end of the year. I look forward to bicameral, bipartisan negotiations with my counterparts to complete the fiscal year 2023 appropriations process as soon as possible,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement following the bill’s passage.
In the Senate, the CR garnered the support of 22 Republicans along with all Democrats, while in the House all but 10 GOP members voted against the bill.
The Ukraine supplemental funding included in the CR covers $3 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) where equipment is procured from industry to support Kyiv’s military efforts as well as $3.7 billion in presidential drawdown authority for the transfer of equipment from existing Pentagon inventories (Defense Daily, Sept. 27).
The bill also includes $1.5 billion to help replenish stockpiles of equipment sent to Ukraine and $540 million to increase production of critical munitions.
The House Appropriations Committee previously voted 32 to 26 in June to approve its $761.7 billion FY ‘23 spending bill for the Pentagon (Defense Daily, June 22).
In late July, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its plan to spend $850 million on defense-related programs in FY ‘23, to include $792.1 billion for the Pentagon (Defense Daily, July 28).
