By Hannah Pantos

Two Democrats – Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Independent Senator Angus King of Maine – voted in favour of its final passage. Schumer voted “no”.

On Thursday, he announced he would vote to allow the measure to move forward, saying although it wasn’t a bill he liked, he believed triggering a shutdown would be a worse result.

Democrat Party infighting exposes struggle to unite against Trump

Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez called Schumer’s willingness to let the spending bill proceed a “huge slap in the face”, adding that there is a “wide sense of betrayal” among the party, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

She said supporting the bill “codifies the chaos and the reckless cuts that Elon Musk has been pursuing”, and that Senate Democrats who voted yes would be empowering “the robbing of our federal government in order to finance tax cuts for billionaires”.

The Democrats had agonised over whether to support the measure, and eventually pushed for a 30-day continuing resolution that was unlikely to earn enough support to pass.

Senator Ted Cruz accused the Democrats of conducting “political theater” and praised the bill’s passage.

“The government is funded, let’s get back to work,” he said in a statement.

The passage is a victory for Trump and congressional Republicans.

On Friday morning, Trump offered rare bipartisan praise of Schumer’s decision to let the bill advance, writing that “a non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights”.

The legislation would keep much of the federal funding levels from the Biden Administration in place, with some key changes.

It increases military spending by $6bn (£4.6bn), for items like border security, veterans healthcare, and military spending. But would cut non-defence funding by about $13bn.

Local officials in Washington DC had feared the bill would result in a $1bn cut in federal funds for the city over the next six months. However, the Senate approved a separate bill that kept its current operating budget intact, the New York Times reported.

By Hannah Pantos

The Air Force’s 18th Wing is tightening approval measures for nighttime exercises after unauthorized training last month involving simulated explosions and gunfire drew complaints from a neighboring Okinawan town.

A unit at Kadena Air Base conducted the exercises “without prior wing-level approval” on the north side of the installation Feb. 25-27, wing spokeswoman Maj. Alli Stormer said in an email Monday.

The training included “personnel recovery, combat search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the Indo-Pacific region,” incorporating “controlled sound and visual effects to enhance realism,” she wrote.

“While there was no intent to cause disruption, the wing has implemented stricter approval measures for any nighttime operations,” Stormer said. “We remain committed to being respectful members of the community while continuing to uphold our treaty obligations.”

She declined to provide details on the new approval measures.

Kadena town officials received complaints about explosion or gunshot noises from the base on the night of Feb. 27, a town spokeswoman said Monday. A phone message left on the town’s answering machine and two text messages to an official account on the Line messaging app reported the sounds, she said.

A noise-measuring device recorded explosion-like sounds five times between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. and six times between 11 p.m. and midnight, the spokeswoman said. The noise levels did not exceed 70 decibels, she said, roughly equivalent to a washing machine or a normal conversation.

The U.S. military typically notifies Kadena town before conducting nighttime exercises, but the town received no prior or post-event communication regarding the training, according to the spokeswoman.

The town contacted the Okinawa Defense Bureau, part of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, on Feb. 28 to confirm the training but had not received a response as of Monday, she said.

“We are currently confirming the facts,” she said. “We will decide our measures after receiving the response.” Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.