Congress to vote on bill to avert shutdown: Here's what's in it
After weeks of negotiation, the bipartisan conference committee has finally finished its work on a spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies whose funding expires Friday night. The measure contains $1.375 billion for physical barriers at the southern border and completes the six other appropriations bills to fund the roughly 25 percent of the federal government that shut down for 35 days.
The text of the 1,159-page bill was released late Wednesday night.
Aides confirmed to CBS News the Senate will pass the legislation first Thursday. Afterward, the House vote on the bill at some point Thursday evening.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, told reporters Wednesday votes would be scheduled no earlier than 6:30 p.m. in the House to accommodate those members who are attending funerals for the late Reps. John Dingell and Walter Jones in Washington, D.C., and North Carolina.
In addition to DHS, the legislation includes funding for six other departments or programs that had not yet been approved: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies.
Bill highlights:
- $1.375 billion for 55 miles of bollard fencing along the southern border and Rio Grande Valley of Texas;
- Funding for 40,520 ICE detention beds by the end of the fiscal year, a reduction from the current 49,060;
- $415 million for enhanced medical support, transportation, food and clothing for migrants who are in detention centers;
- $900 million for enhanced inspections at ports of entry, new technology, opioid detection and customs officers;
- Funding for a new Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter;
- A 1.9 percent pay raise for federal civilian workers (overriding President Trump's order to deny them a pay raise);
- $100 million for border security technology between the ports on U.S. southern and northern borders, such as mobile surveillance capability and innovative towers (surveillance towers that are able to differentiate between people and vehicles and whether they're carrying weapons or drugs);
- $564 million for non-intrusive inspection equipment at land ports of entry to scan vehicles entering the U.S. for narcotics and other contraband;
- $563.4 million to hire new immigration judges to reduce the backlog of cases;
- $527.6 million to support the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America, a program focused on addressing the causes of migration of undocumented Central Americans to the U.S.;
- $191 million for new infrastructure at the Calexico land port of entry;
- $112.6 million for aircraft and sensor systems, including $86 million for 3 additional multi-role enforcement aircraft;
- $14.5 million for integrated coastal interceptor vessels for patrolling U.S. maritime borders; and
- $76.9 million for countering opioids with detection equipment and staffing at international mail facilities.
What the bill doesn't include:
- Back pay for federal contractors affected by the shutdown;
- An extension of the Violence Against Women Act (though it does include nearly $500 million in grant money for VAWA programs);
- No increase in total fencing money compared to fiscal year 2018 (the appropriation is $1.375 billion);
- Funding can't be used for any concrete wall or other Trump wall prototypes. Only "existing technologies" for fencing or barriers can be used
Rebecca Kaplan and Nancy Cordes contributed to this report