By Jeremy Diamond and Jeff Zeleny
President Donald Trump signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill to keep the federal government open Friday, then excoriated Congress for passing the plan in the first place.
Earlier Friday, the President threatened to veto the measure over concerns it does not include a solution for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or sufficient funding for a border wall.
“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,” Trump tweeted just before 9 a.m. on Friday.
The missive sent White House officials and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill scurrying to ensure that Trump would still sign the omnibus spending bill, which top White House officials promised just a day earlier Trump would sign.
The massive spending package marks the end of a months-long funding stalemate in which lawmakers were forced to pass one short-term spending bill after another to stave off a shutdown.
The package includes more than just money to fight the opioid epidemic, pay the military and fund more than $21 billion in infrastructure projects. It also includes policy changes like one that would incentivize states to enter more records into the country’s gun background check system and another that would cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority until Palestinians cease making payments to the families of terrorists.
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