Congress reaches deal on fiscal 2022 spending, Ukraine aid

Washington

DEMOCRATS and Republicans in Congress struck a deal on a long-delayed US$1.5 trillion spending bill that would fund the US government through the rest of the fiscal year and provide US$13.6 billion to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Lawmakers released the text of the 2,741-page measure early on Wednesday (Mar 9), with the House planning to pass it later in the day. The House also is set to vote on another stopgap spending bill, continuing government funding at current levels through Mar 15 to give the Senate time to deal with the full-year legislation.

The legislation would provide US$730 billion for non-defense discretionary spending, a 6.7 per cent increase and a win for Democrats while Republicans were able to negotiate a 5.6 per cent increase for defence spending over fiscal 2021, bringing it to US$782 billion.

Congress added to the US$10 billion the Biden administration initially requested to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. In a last-minute compromise, funding for pandemic-related measures was cut from the from the US$22.5 billion the administration wanted, to US$15.6 billion.

"This bill overall is a big improvement from where we were a month ago," Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said. "We've got parity for defence dollar wise." The bill also "meets the needs of Ukraine", he said.

The US$13.6 billion in emergency Ukraine-related spending would provide US$6.5 billion for the Pentagon, including US$3 billion to bolster US troops in Europe and US$3.5 billion to replace weapons given to Ukraine.

The State department would receive US$4 billion including for refugee assistance, economic assistance to the region and foreign military financing. The US Agency for International Development would get US$2.8 billion mostly for immediate humanitarian disaster assistance. Other funding is provided to enforce sanctions and increase media broadcasts into Ukraine.

The coronavirus spending bill includes US$10.6 billion for a Department of Health and Human Services emergency fund, US$4.5 billion for global health programmes, and US$500 million for humanitarian services. Those funds would be offset by using US$7 billion in aid to state and local governments in the March 2021 stimulus and nearly US$3 billion in unused Paycheck Protection Program small business funds. BLOOMBERG