CHRISTIANSTED, VI — President Biden signed a $1.7 trillion bill Thursday, staving off a shutdown and keeping the government funded through September, while adding to his legacy of expanding federal programs as president.
The signing was no surprise; Mr Biden had urged Congress to reach a deal on funding for the government before a deadline at the end of this month, and he had applauded the bill as it passed the Senate and then the House.
But the setting for the bill signing was unusual. Instead of holding a ceremony at the White House, Mr. Biden wielded his pen on the island of St. Croix, where he is vacationing for the New Year. White House officials received the more than 4,000-page bill from Congress late Wednesday afternoon and sent it on a commercial flight to the Virgin Islands Thursday.
The bill, which passed Congress on Dec. 23, was the latest major legislative achievement of the first two years of Biden’s White House tenure, when Democrats narrowly controlled both the House and Senate.
It included significant increases in spending on national defense and on domestic spending not related to the military, reflecting diverging partisan priorities in Washington. The bill earmarked $858 billion in defense funds, which Republicans had pushed for, and more than $772 billion for the education, health and veterans programs that Democrats have supported. That money included significant new aid to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invasion.
Lawmakers pinned several disparate agenda items to the bill, including more money for law enforcement across the country, a set of new rules designed to help Americans save more for retirement, and a review of the federal procedure for counting electoral votes in presidential election — a response to former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to distort the count of the 2020 election, which he lost on January 6, 2021.
The bill was the second comprehensive government funding measure passed during the Biden administration. Because Republicans won control of the House in the November midterm elections, it was also the last chance for Congressional Democrats to shape the federal budget while controlling both chambers.
Mr Biden signed the bill behind closed doors, on a day when he did not appear in public or answer questions. He said in a written statement that the measure “advances important priorities for our country and caps a year of historic bipartisan progress for the American people.”
Emily Cochrane contributed reporting from Washington.
