The Senate passed a “minibus” spending bill on Wednesday that would increase spending for the Environmental Protection Agency and Interior Department above the president’s requested levels.
The minibus, approved by a 92-6 vote, joined together four bills, including the fiscal 2019 EPA-Interior budget bill, a Financial Services and General Government appropriations package, Agriculture and the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the top Democrat on the committee, worked out a final bipartisan deal to move the bill forward.
All four bills had been passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on unanimous 31-0 votes.
The White House had expressed its displeasure with increases for the EPA above the cuts that President Trump had asked for.
Although the Interior-EPA spending bill does support the Trump tax cuts and infrastructure priorities, it also takes significant action to undermine the administration’s policy agenda, said a White House Statement of Administration Policy issued last week. “The Administration is concerned, however, that this combined package is nearly $38 billion above the FY 2019 Budget request, includes certain objectionable policy provisions, and excludes important Administration policy priorities,” the statement said.
The EPA-Interior Department funding was slated at $35.9 billion, which is an increase of $601 million from both the fiscal 2018 budget and the spending level passed by the House. The bill is $7.6 billion over what President Trump had requested for fiscal 2019.
The Financial Services bill includes over $23 billion, a $16 million increase from fiscal 2018 budget levels and a $10 million increase from House spending levels.
The Agriculture appropriations bill includes $23.2 billion in budget authority, representing an increase of $225 million from fiscal 2018. It is $38 million less than the House approved minibus, and $6.1 billion more than President Trump’s budget request.
The Transportation-HUD bill includes $71.4 billion, which is an increase of $1.1 billion from fiscal 2018. It is $383 million less than the House minibus, and a whopping $23.4 billion above Trump’s request.
[Also read: EPA’s Wheeler promises ’50-state solution’ for new auto pollution rules, seeks peace with California]
