Senate passes $150B ‘minibus’ spending bill with increases for EPA

By John Siciliano

Published August 1, 2018 5:47pm ET

Senate passes $150B ‘minibus’ spending bill with increases for EPA — "It's probably more tension than I've seen in a long time," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby said. (Getty Images) | Andrew Burton

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.