US Congress releases $1.1tn spending package to avert shutdown

After days of delay, US congressional leaders unveiled a $1.1tn bipartisan spending measure for defense, homeland security and other programs early on Thursday, giving lawmakers less than two days to avert a partial government shutdown.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives will vote on the sprawling package on Friday, leaving the Democratic-majority Senate only hours to pass the package of six bills that covers about two-thirds of the $1.66tn in discretionary government spending for the fiscal year that began on 1 October.

“These final six bills represent a bipartisan and bicameral compromise,” the two top Senate negotiators – Patty Murray, a Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Republican – said in a statement.

“They will invest in the American people, build a stronger economy, help keep our communities safe, and strengthen our national security and global leadership.”

The Congressional Budget Office warned that US deficits and debt will grow considerably over the next 30 years, forecasting that the nation’s $34.5tn national debt, which now represents about 99% of GDP, could grow and rise to 166% of GDP by 2054.

The Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said he is “hopeful” Congress can avert a shutdown if Democrats and Republicans in his chamber work together.

The compressed schedule raised the risk of at least a brief partial shutdown after a Friday midnight deadline, unless Schumer can reach agreement with Senate Republicans to expedite the bill.

The House speaker, Mike Johnson, touted what he called a series of wins for Republicans, from higher spending for US defense and border security to a cutoff of US funding for the main United Nations relief agency that provides humanitarian assistance to