Senate sends Trump three more spending bills ahead of shutdown deadline

The Senate has now passed half of its annual spending bills after a Thursday afternoon vote to fund the Justice Department and several other federal agencies.

The overwhelming majority of senators supported a three-bill package that also keeps the Interior, Commerce, and Energy departments operating past a Jan. 30 government funding deadline.

Senators left town after passing the measure and won’t return until the final week of January, giving them just days to make further progress. Senate leaders praised the vote as a sign that the appropriations process is back on track after a record-breaking government shutdown that ended in November.

The bill, which cleared the House last week, passed in the upper chamber on Thursday in an 82-15 vote and now heads to President Donald