RICHMOND, Va -- On Wednesday, Congress was considering a trillion-dollar spending package that would fund the federal government until September 2015, the end of the fiscal year.
The bill -- which calls for $1.014 trillion in spending -- includes not only items calling for spending, but also items that limit and, in some cases, reduce funding.
USA Today compiled a list of several of the items in the spending bill. Items calling for spending include:
- $5.4 billion to stop the spread of Ebola
- $64 billion to fight ISIS and fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
- $46 million to boost security at U.S. embassies around the world
- $485 million to help countries dealing with Russian aggression
Also included are limits and cuts in spending. Among those are:
- Blocking a pay raise for some executive branch members, including the vice president
- $346 million reduction in funding for the IRS
- $60 million reduction in funding for the EPA
- Blocking funding to implement marijuana legalization in Washington, D.C., which was approved by voters through referendum in November 2014.
The bill was written by Democratic and Republican negotiators, but there were many in both parties opposed to provisions in the bill. If a spending bill was not approved by Thursday night, the federal government would run out of money.
