Congress moves forward on $1.5 trillion ‘mega-bill’

Judy Woodruff:

Lawmakers here in Washington are working around the clock to pass a massive funding bill to keep the government open through the fall. The bill includes billions in aid for Ukraine, among other key provisions.

Our congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins is back with more on this and other news brewing on Capitol Hill.

Lisa, hello. Welcome back to the studio for a change.

Lisa Desjardins:

Right. Right.

Judy Woodruff:

So, another whirlwind day, I guess you could say, in Washington.

You do have this big government spending bill worked out overnight, only to hit a snag today. That was overcome. But tell us, what is in this bill, some of that, and why is it so important?

Lisa Desjardins:

Judy, this is a mega-bill. It's called the omnibus for reason. Our Latin scholars out there know why.

It includes everything. This is the way the government touches American people's lives the most.

And I want to take people through some broad strokes of this bill. We can't possibly cover it all, but, in general, this bill is $1.5 trillion. It's the annual spending bill, but there's also increases in it, more increases for defense and non-defense, and, for the first time that we have seen in well over a decade, earmarks have returned. We have reported on that. That is in this bill that is slated for passage.

Also in here that you heard, that you talked about with the ambassador earlier, $13.6 billion for Ukraine. Half of that is military funding. Another roughly half is more humanitarian and diplomatic.

Also in here, another big issue, $1.5 billion, about, for shoring up the Southern border. So, you can see this is a big-ticket item. It covers a lot of issues. There was an issue earlier today with the COVID money that was in it. It's about $15 billion mainly for vaccines, medicines.

How do you pay for that was the issue. Because of that debate, that has been separated out into another bill. I think we are going to be talking about that more in the future. Its fate is unknown. But, tonight, we expect this large package to move forward. How long it takes, we don't know, but we think government will not shut down and this bill will become law, likely.

Judy Woodruff:

So, I was hearing it's more than 2,500 pages.

You have actually been reading it.

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes.

Judy Woodruff:

Tell us more about what else it does.

Lisa Desjardins:

There's so much. I would love to just spend hours taking people through it. It really tells you what government does.

And a few items to highlight here that I want to talk about. This bill would renew the Violence Against Women Act, a big deal. That's the first time in nearly a decade that that act has been renewed by Congress. Also, it addresses the immigrant visa backlog, with hundreds of millions in new spending to try and deal with that problem.

It also contains the largest increase in funding for the IRS since 2001, almost the largest increase this century. And it also has some small things with big meaning. For example, this directs that there must be a plaque placed on the West Front of the Capitol to honor the police who fought there on January 6.

It covers items big and small. It has a major effect in what this country does and how Congress sees this country.

Judy Woodruff:

It's a lot of different, important issues that are wrapped up in one place.

It's not the only piece of important legislation, though to pass this week, significant Postal Service reform. Tell us some of what is in that legislation.

Lisa Desjardins:

Well, first of all, to remind people — I know Geoff Bennett's reported on this — why we have a problem with the Postal Service, so the Postal Service last year actually increased its revenue. It's making more money.

However, if you look at the numbers, they were — they're losing money overall. They're losing more money than they're bring in. So, in fact, last year, it was a net loss of almost $5 billion. The key issue for them, Judy, has been pension funding. They have been required by Congress to fund pensions ahead of time. No other agency has to do this.

So, when you look at the workers of the Postal Services, of some 650,000 people, we all know what they look like. We all see them in our lives.

Judy Woodruff:

Right.

Lisa Desjardins:

Their jobs have been on the line in whether they could actually deliver the mail six days a week. That was a question for the Postal Service.

This reform bill that passed the Senate this week, goes to the president's desk, actually says that the — saves about $50 billion for the agency by changing health pension system works and diverting many of those workers to the Medicare system instead. And it keeps our six-day delivery system intact.

Judy Woodruff:

So much there.

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes.

Judy Woodruff:

And, Lisa, one more significant bill went to the president's desk that week — this week, and that is the Emmett Till anti-lynching measure.

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes.

Judy Woodruff:

Tell us what is in that.

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

And, first, thanks to our viewers for hanging in. This is a lot of information. But this is all very important stuff that doesn't get attention all the time.

This bill, the Emmett Till anti-lynching bill, of course, is named for the 14-year-old victim of a murder, a lynching in the 1950s in Mississippi. And this is something, the idea that a lynching should be a federal crime has been debated for 100 years.

But, this week, it passed and made its way to the president's desk. And I want to talk a little bit about what it actually does. It would make lynching — it defines lynching essentially as a conspiracy that results in a violent hate crime.

So, some people say the Ahmaud Arbery death in Georgia could be considered a lynching, for example, under this law, a federal hate crime, federal lynching. And it applies to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability status. This was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers, a bipartisan vote, something, as I say, that has been in the air for a century. It took a long time to do.

And now it's going to the president, which should be law soon.

Judy Woodruff:

Well, you take notice when legislation passes and when there is bipartisan agreement.

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes. That's right. There is some.

Judy Woodruff:

There is some.

Lisa Desjardins, thanks very much.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.