Trump signs $1.3 trillion spending bill hours after threatening veto
President Donald Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending measure averting a government shutdown just hours after saying he was considering a veto.
Trump has been fuming because the package does not include protections for “Dreamer” immigrants and doesn’t provide enough money for his promised border wall.
But Trump is pointing to major increases in military spending included in the bill. He says, “my highest duty is to keep America safe” and that he’s signed it “as a matter of national security.”
The president warned Congress he will “never sign another bill like this again.” Trump called the omnibus legislation a “ridiculous situation,” noting lawmakers had only hours to review the massive bill, but says national security concerns are leading him to sign it.
Trump says “nobody” is “more disappointed than me because the number is so large.”
Trump says he wants to change the Senate’s rules to eliminate the filibuster, and allow passage of all bills on a simple-majority vote. He also appeals to Congress for a line-item veto that would grant him the ability to nix spending he disagrees with.
