Senate passes $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill

The Senate on Thursday passed a massive $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, sending the bill to the House for a hasty vote before midnight Friday to avert a partial government shutdown.

The bill includes at least $44 billion in additional money to help Ukraine thwart Russia's invasion and was thrown into peril overnight by a GOP effort to force a vote on an amendment to the measure to extend a Trump-era effort to limit illegal immigration amid the pandemic by using a decades-old public health authority known as Title 42. 

The one-year funding measure passed by a 68-29 vote in the Senate, according to The Associated Press, and is expected to pass the Democrat-led House.

Independent Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema reportedly attempted to broker a deal to end the stalemate by proposing her own amendment that also delayed the ending of the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsion authority, but the measure ultimately failed, Roll Call reported. The future of the Title 42 border policy will likely be determined in a legal battle.

The 4,155-page bill includes more than $850 billion for defense and more than $770 billion for domestic programs. The bill has been criticized for including expenses such as $410 million for border security in the Middle East, but not in the United States.