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Senate panel kicks off work on spending bills

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y. pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 13, 2017. Schumer warned that moves by House Republicans to make a down payment on the Mexico wall and cut domestic programs is a “dangerous, irresponsible path” that “can only lead to a government shutdown.”
“They’re steering us towards a train wreck,” he said. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y. pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 13, 2017. Schumer warned that moves by House Republicans to make a down payment on the Mexico wall and cut domestic programs is a “dangerous, irresponsible path” that “can only lead to a government shutdown.” “They’re steering us towards a train wreck,” he said. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y. pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 13, 2017. Schumer warned that moves by House Republicans to make a down payment on the Mexico wall and cut domestic programs is a “dangerous, irresponsible path” that “can only lead to a government shutdown.” “They’re steering us towards a train wreck,” he said. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By Associated Press July 13, 2017 3 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – A key Senate panel kicked off action on its long-delayed agenda of 12 annual spending bills on Thursday with a bipartisan measure boosting spending on veterans programs by 5 percent.

The unanimous Senate Appropriations Committee vote on a popular $89 billion measure for the Department of Veterans Affairs and military base construction was a relative bright spot on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers were battling over how much to beef up the Pentagon and whether to add to domestic programs.

Those differences were amply on display in the counterpart House Appropriations panel. It spent the day arguing over cuts to foreign aid and Pell Grants.

Another contentious issue: money to speed the seizure, through eminent domain, of private land in Texas to build President Donald Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats opposed the money, contained in a Justice Department and NASA funding bill, but were rebuffed along party lines in their effort to cut it.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that moves by House Republicans to make a down payment on the Mexico wall and cut domestic programs is a “dangerous, irresponsible path” that “can only lead to a government shutdown.”