House prepares to vote on $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package, with $13.6 billion in Ukraine aid
CBSN
Washington — The House is moving closer to a vote Wednesday on a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill to keep the federal government open and provide $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine and Eastern European countries, as well as $15.6 billion to assist with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The legislation, which is 2,741 pages, is the culmination of months of bicameral and bipartisan negotiations between top Democratic and Republican appropriators. The details of the package, which funds federal agencies for the remainder of the year, were released early Wednesday, ahead of the Friday deadline for Congress to pass legislation to avert a partial government shutdown.
To alleviate a potential time crunch in the Senate, the House is also poised to vote on a short-term continuing resolution that will keep government agencies running through March 15 if the omnibus spending bill does not get to President Biden's desk before the end of the week.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.