The US House of Representatives has passed a $1.7tn annual spending bill, sending the mammoth package to President Joe Biden for his signature and averting a government shutdown before the holidays.
The 225-201 vote in the House on Friday came a day after the US Senate approved the measure, shoring up $45bn in additional aid for Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a daring trip to Washington this week to plead for continued support.
The bill’s $45bn in emergency assistance for Ukraine is more than the Biden administration had initially requested. In a speech to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday evening, Zelenskyy said it was “not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”