Trump Signs $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill, Avoiding Government Shutdown

President Donald Trump on Friday signed a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government through Sept. 30, avoiding a partial government shutdown this weekend while conceding on several of his key priorities.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at Friday's daily briefing that Mr. Trump had signed the bill in the early afternoon, a day after the Senate passed it with 79 votes in favor. Mr. Trump is spending the weekend at his resort in Bedminster, N.J., where he traveled late Thursday night.

The White House has said that it is focused on winning in September pieces of the legislation that it sought but failed to advance, such as funding for a border wall with Mexico. The $1.5 billion that the bill provides for border security, which will fund technology and repair existing fencing along the border, is half of what the president requested.

Meanwhile, leaders in both parties have cast the bill as a win. The measure gives military spending a $19.9 billion boost over the fiscal year 2016 enacted level, and Republicans say more money in the bill is allocated to defense than domestic spending. Former President Barack Obama insisted on parity between the two.

Democrats say that parity is still there, since the extra money for the defense budget comes temporarily from emergency funds. They, too, tout the bill as a success, noting it doesn't include cuts to domestic programs sought by Mr. Trump and that negotiators persuaded Republicans to remove 160 special "riders" that direct how money can be spent. The bill ensures that government funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America will continue through the fiscal year.

The bill was opposed by some Republican members, such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who said in a statement that he was voting "no" because the bill is "perpetuating Democrats' big government programs."

Natalie Andrews

contributed to this article.

Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2017 15:11 ET (19:11 GMT)