Senate approves spending bill without provision to ban arming teachers

The U.S. Capitol dome is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. (REUTERS/Larry Downing)

The Senate overwhelmingly approved an $854 billion measure Thursday that combines military spending with disbursements for the departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor and other agencies.

The 85-7 vote sends the measure to the House and means the Senate has now passed nine of the 12 mandatory spending bills for the budget year that begins Oct. 1.

The House has approved a $675 billion spending bill for the Defense Department, but has not voted on a spending measure for labor, health and education. Senators from both parties have said they want to keep the two measures attached. The bills must be merged into a single product that passes both the House and Senate before they can be sent to the White House for President Trump's signature.

The bill did not include any formal proposal to prohibit the arming of schoolteachers, despite threats by Democrats to draft an amendment barring the Department of Education from using funds allocated by Congress for the purpose.

Under current law, the Trump administration is allowed to use the money to arm teachers through the end of September.

The bill boosts military pay by 2.6 percent, the largest increase in nearly a decade, and ups funding for the National Institutes of Health by 5 percent.

Republicans cited defense spending in urging support for the measure, which accounts for about two-thirds of federal spending for the 2019 budget year.

The 5 percent boost for NIH is the fourth straight significant increase for the biomedical research agency. The measure would hike spending for Alzheimer's research to more than $2.3 billion, essentially quadrupling spending levels from four years ago on a disease that requires hundreds of billions of dollars for dementia-related care.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on labor and health, said that if the United States does not find a solution to the disease by 2050, "we will be spending about twice today's defense budget on Alzheimer's care."

The bill also would provide a $145 million increase for treatment of opioid addiction, bringing spending to $3.7 billion to confront what lawmakers called an epidemic of abuse.

It would also boost spending for the Head Start preschool program and increase maximum Pell Grants for college education.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the vote "shows what the Senate can do working together. We all know it's not easy, but it works."

Some conservatives criticized Republicans for going along with Democratic demands for increases in non-defense spending that match the increase in defense spending. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said the bill "continues to fund wasteful and ineffective programs that should be curtailed or eliminated entirely" and omits several policy riders important to conservatives.

Senate leaders from both parties have agreed to avoid attaching so-called poison pill proposals to spending legislation to ensure passage.

The Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to block taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood and other groups that perform abortions. Paul said the amendment offered Republicans who "profess pro-life values" a chance "to turn our words into action, stand up for the sanctity of life and speak out for the most innocent among us that have no voice."

Only 45 senators voted in favor of the proposal.

Senate leaders also blocked an amendment by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to allow the Senate to intervene in a Texas lawsuit that could upend health-care protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. The Trump administration has said it will no longer defend key parts of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act in court.

"What's happening today in the Senate is disgusting," Manchin said after the amendment was blocked. He said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell "chose to play politics with the health care of millions of Americans," including about 1.8 million people with pre-existing conditions in his home state of Kentucky.

"This is not a Democratic or Republican issue, this is life or death to many," Manchin said.

Manchin's election opponent, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey, has joined states challenging the health care law.

Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.