House passes spending bill that omits most Trump priorities

WASHINGTON (May 4): The House passed a shutdown-avoiding US$1.17 trillion ($1.63 trillion) spending bill that President Donald Trump plans to sign even though Democrats were able to defeat most of his wish list, including money for a wall at the US-Mexico border.

The 309-118 vote Wednesday sends the measure to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hopes to hold a vote Thursday. While the measure buys peace for five months, Trump on Tuesday threatened a "good shutdown" in September or a Senate rule change to keep the minority party from wielding similar power on the next spending plan.

Democrats claimed victory over Republicans on the bipartisan measure, which excluded funding for the southern border wall and avoided US$18 billion in domestic spending cuts sought by Trump. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney accused Democrats of “spiking the football” and said the bill’s US$21 billion in added defense spending -- which includes US$6 billion from the Obama administration -- was a win for Republicans.

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