Obama signs $1.1T omnibus

President Obama signed a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill Friday night at the White House before a small gathering that included his budget team.

In a small auditorium across the street from the West Wing, Obama penned his name on the 1,500-page legislation, which piled nearly a foot off the ground.

{mosads}“Goodness gracious, that is a big piece of business; that is a big bill,” the president joked.

The president said the bill represents “hours and hours and weekends and nights when people are paying attention and sweating the details.”

He thanked his staff for their work ironing out the details of the comprehensive agreement, which will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.

“We would not be here, we would not be able to sign this legislation if it hadn’t been for your work,” he said. “This is my way of saying thank you.”

The president’s signature comes a day after the bill breezed through the Senate in a 72-26 vote, and two days after the House passed the bill by a 359-67 margin. 

The vast majority of the votes against the bill came from congressional Republicans, who argued the legislation spent too much and that lawmakers did not have enough time to read it. 

The bill designates funding for every government agency, including money for the implementation of ObamaCare — something Republicans fought against as part of the government shutdown last year. The legislation also includes stricter regulations on financial markets, although it falls short of reforms proposed by the White House.

The president said that the comprehensive bill would be good for the economy and allow Washington to address other business. 

“Across the board our government is going to be operating without, hopefully too many glitches, over the next year,” he said. “Not only is that good for you, and all the dedicated public servants in federal government but most importantly it’s good for the American people.”