DEMS/SENATE/SPENDING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Senate overwhelmingly approved an $854 billion measure Thursday [8-23-18] 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.”
–Samuel Chamberlain, “Senate approves spending bill without provision to ban arming teachers,” Fox News, August 23, 2018 2:30 pm