--- title: Congress Introduces $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown description: Congress introduced a massive, $1.1 trillion spending bill Tuesday night, two days before a government shutdown-inducing deadline. canonical: https://time.com/3627644/congress-spending-shutdown/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-10T15:00:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:40:40.067Z article:section: Politics og:title: Congress Introduces $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown og:description: Congress introduced a massive, $1.1 trillion spending bill Tuesday night, two days before a government shutdown-inducing deadline. og:url: https://time.com/3627644/congress-spending-shutdown/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt778cb4d2ca8d39af/69876c89cd1bba17346f3ea3/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: John Boehner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Congress Introduces $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown twitter:description: Congress introduced a massive, $1.1 trillion spending bill Tuesday night, two days before a government shutdown-inducing deadline. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt778cb4d2ca8d39af/69876c89cd1bba17346f3ea3/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Congress Introduces $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Know Right Now: From California's Pineapple Express to Another Shutdown Drama [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: From California's Pineapple Express to Another Shutdown Drama](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yKgf4s2K.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2014-12-12. Watch this week's #KnowRightNow to catch up on the latest top stories_ by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Dec 10, 2014 3:00 PM UTC  House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in Congress on Nov. 21, 2014 in Washington. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in Congress on Nov. 21, 2014 in Washington. J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Dec 10, 2014 3:00 PM UTC Congress introduced a massive, $1.1 trillion spending bill Tuesday night, two days before a government shutdown-inducing deadline. It covers almost all aspects of discretionary funding for the federal government, from training and equipping forces to defeat Islamic terrorists in Syria and Iraq to blocking Washington D.C.’s recent ballot measure legalizing marijuana. Stretching 1,603 pages, the [bill](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/cprt-113-hprt-ru00-hr83sa.pdf) will fund almost everything except the Department of Homeland Security through the end of September 2015\. Congress will fund DHS through Feb. 27 as Republicans protest President Obama’s executive action on immigration providing temporary deportation relief for up to five million immigrants who came to the country illegally. With that nod to conservatives, congressional appropriators on both sides of the aisle cheered the bill. “In today’s era of slam-down politics, we were able to set aside our differences,” said Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski. “Working across the aisle and across the dome, we created compromise without capitulation.” “This bill will allow us to fulfill our Constitutional duty to responsibly fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown,” said House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers. ### Photos: Meet America's 10 Newest Senators  Joni Ernst A Lieutenant Colonel of the Iowa Army National Guard, Ernst has served on the Iowa State Senate since 2004. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  David Perdue A businessman from Macon, Ga., Perdue makes his political debut in the seat of retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss. David Goldman—AP  Tom CottonA U.S. Army Veteran and lawyer, Cotton has served as Representative for Arkansas's 4th district since 2012 and now moves on to the Senate. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Cory Gardner Gardner formerly served in the Colorado House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives. He beat incumbent Sen. Mark Udall. David Zalubowski—AP  Thom Tillis Tillis is the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and has served there 2006. Davis Turner—Getty Images  Mike Rounds From Huron, S.D., Rounds served as South Dakota governor from 2003 to 2011. Michael Conroy—AP  Shelley Moore Capito The daughter of former West Virginia Gov. Arch Alfred Moore, Jr., Capito has served as a U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd District since 2001. Tyler Evert—AP  Steve DainesA businessman with Procter & Gamble for 13 years, Daines became a member of the House of Representatives in 2013. Michael Albans—AP  James LankfordLankford has served as Representative for Oklahoma's 5th District since 2011. Sue Ogrocki—AP  Ben Sasse The President of Midland University in Fremont, Neb., since 2010, Sasse won the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Mike Johanns. Nati Harnik—AP The bill provides the President with a few high-profile wins, including $5.4 billion in funding for Ebola research and treatment and $500 million to train and equip foreign forces to fight Islamic terrorists in Syria and Iraq. Yet some key government agencies reflect Republican sway, including a $345.6 million cut to the Internal Revenue Service, and domestic expenditures overall have fallen flat: [Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/house-senate-spending-deal-113375.html)’s David Rogers (no relation) reports that President Obama will leave office with fewer “real dollars” for such purposes than President George W. Bush. The wide-ranging bill also, surprisingly, tripled the allowable amount individuals could give to national political parties to support presidential nominating conventions, building expenses and election recounts, infuriating opponents to big money in politics. “This backroom deal represents everything Americans detest about Washington and about Congress,” wrote Meredith McGehee, the policy director for the Campaign Legal Center in a statement. “Both parties are complicit \[in\] this dirty deal that was made based on incumbents’ fears of money from outside groups.” The bill is expected to pass despite the time crunch; Congress will even pass a short-term bill to fund the government for a few extra days if necessary. While some conservatives noted their disgust that the bill does not “defund” the President’s executive action—”To me the old adage ‘he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day’ is a coward,” said Republican Rep. Matt Salmon on Tuesday—enough House Democrats should support the bill to push it forward. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has previously indicated that she would not support funding DHS on a short-term basis, said she was “hopeful” House Democrats could support the bill once they review the “final language.” Considering the bill’s length and imminent vote, it would be a surprise to few if many members couldn’t complete that task. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3627644/congress-spending-shutdown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3627644/congress-spending-shutdown/"},"headline":"Congress Introduces $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown","datePublished":"2014-12-10T15:00:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:40:40.067Z","description":"Republicans and Democrats cheered the bill","url":"https://time.com/3627644/congress-spending-shutdown/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt778cb4d2ca8d39af/69876c89cd1bba17346f3ea3/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt778cb4d2ca8d39af/69876c89cd1bba17346f3ea3/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Boehner","caption":"John Boehner","creditText":"J. 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