<p>Republicans&rsquo; claims that Democrats were the ones to pass last week&rsquo;s $1.3 trillion spending bill are reflected in the final Senate vote, where 39 Democrats voted in favor and 9 against. On the other side, 25 Republicans voted in favor and 23 voted against.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The result is legislation that neither side sees as perfect but which contains a host of significant victories and important achievement on behalf of the American people,&rdquo; said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday. ;</p>
<p>Groups to oppose the bill include McConnell&rsquo;s Senate Republican Caucus, the House Freedom Caucus, and the Heritage Foundation. GOP members to vote &ldquo;nay&rdquo; include stalwart conservatives James Lankford (OK), Ted Cruz (TX), Rand Paul (KY), Cory Gardner (CO), Mike Lee (UT), and Tom Cotton (AR).</p>
<p>Deficit hawk Bob Corker (R-TN) called the bill &ldquo;grotesque,&rdquo; while John Kennedy (R-LA) called it a &ldquo;great-dane-sized whiz down the leg of every taxpayer in this country.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Trump reluctantly signed the bill Friday, claiming its benefits to the military outweighed drawbacks including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Minimal border wall funding</li>
<li>No measure to keep funding from sanctuary cities</li>
<li>No penalties on Planned Parenthood</li>
<li>No protections for former DACA recipients</li>
<li>No support for Devos&rsquo;s education agenda</li>
<li>A reduction in immigrant detention capacity</li>
</ul>
<p>&ldquo;We are very disappointed that in order to fund the military, we had to give up things we were considering,&rdquo; Trump told reporters on Friday just hours after threatening to veto the bill. Trump also vowed he would &ldquo;never sign a bill like this again&rdquo; and called on Congress to end the filibuster rule. ;</p>
<p>Democrats were pleased as punch to see the bill go through, even if it lacked protections for Dreamers. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Democrats love this bill like the devil loves sin,&rdquo; complained Louisiana Senator John Neely Kennedy. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t understand why when President Obama does what we&rsquo;re about to do, it&rsquo;s bad for the country, but when we do it, it&rsquo;s good for the country.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Victories for Democrats include:</p>
<ul>
<li>A $3.9 billion increase in education spending</li>
<li>$540 million for the Gateway project</li>
<li>A law that will increase enforcement of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System</li>
<li>Clarification that the CDC can use taxpayer money on public health research about firearms ;</li>
<li>Funding for school safety programs</li>
<li>An amendment that prohibits employers from taking ownership of employees&rsquo; tips</li>
<li>A $1.3 billion increase in funding for the Census Bureau to conduct its 2020 census ;</li>
</ul>
<p>&ldquo;We Democrats feel very good because so many of our priorities for the middle class were included,&rdquo; said New York Senator Chuck Schumer. ;</p>
<p>Victories for the GOP include massive boosts to military and domestic spending and a big ;pay raise for troops.</p>
<p>Celebrated by both parties is a $3 billion funding increase for medical research and $4 billion to help fight the opioid epidemic. ;</p>
<p>Lawmakers passed the measure at 1:00am on Friday morning, after having had less than 24 hours to read and interpret more than 2,200 pages of legislation. ;</p>
<p>Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said the final vote was &ldquo;the most like a <em>Saturday Night Live</em> skit&rdquo; she has seen during her 12 years in the Senate. ;</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The spending bill funds the government through September 30th, 2018. ;</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> Unfortunately the Republicans in Congress do not have Trump&#8217;s acumen for negotiation. This spending bill made a lot of Republicans and a lot of Americans angry.</p>