Three of Trump’s spending bills advance through US Senate with bipartisan deal
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The Senate approved the first three spending bills of Donald Trump’s 2025 budget agenda on Friday, moving fast after party leaders reached a bipartisan agreement earlier in the day to wrap them into one legislative package. The push comes with less than two months to go before federal money runs out on September 30. Even though these three bills alone won’t prevent a shutdown, they give the chamber a stronger position heading into talks with the House and the White House. In a lopsided 87-9 vote, the Senate cleared two bills: one to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction, and another for the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. Senators then voted 81-15 to pass a separate third bill to cover spending for the Legislative Branch. All three are now heading to the House as a bundled package. Senate lawmakers fight over amendments, funding clawbacks, and VA staffing Altogether, the bills will direct $154 billion to military and veterans programs and more than $27 billion to the Agriculture Department and the FDA, both amounts representing about a 2% boost from current funding levels. Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said during the debate, “It’s taken a great deal of work, good faith and negotiation to get to this point. Congress has a responsibility, a constitutional responsibility under Article I, for the power of the purse. We are executing that responsibility.” Still, the legislative process wasn’t smooth. Senators clashed over proposed changes to the package. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon who sits on the Appropriations Committee, offered an amendment that would have blocked the White House from using rescission powers to claw back any of the funds. Merkley said Democrats were worried that Trump’s administration would submit another rescissions request before the…
Filed under: News - @ August 2, 2025 12:29 pm