Trump signs spending bill, averting another gov't shutdown

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- US President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon signed the legislation on spending and border security passed by the Congress, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed.

The president's approval came hours before the midnight deadline for another federal government partial shutdown. The 333-billion-dollar bill allows the federal government to open through the end of September.

The bill was passed separately by the Senate and the House on Thursday. It includes 1.375 billion US dollars for physical barriers along the US-Mexico border but Trump had previously demanded 5.7 billion dollars in funding for his border wall campaign promise.

Trump on Friday also declared a national emergency which gives him power to bypass Congress to redirect several billions of dollars to expand the border wall. However, the emergency declaration sparked a new round of legal and partisan battles almost immediately.

House and Senate bipartisan negotiators unveiled the 1,159-page bill just before Wednesday midnight, leaving little time for lawmakers to actually digest its contents.

The fight between the White House and congressional Democrats over the funding of the border wall led to the record-breaking 35-day federal government shutdown which ended in late January.