Ideological fights over government spending have dragged on since the October 1 start of the federal fiscal year, delaying funding decisions and generating five threatened shutdowns, each of which has been averted shortly before the deadline. Financial markets have shrugged off the drama, assuming compromise would eventually prevail.

The US Senate voted 75 to 22 to approve the package, negotiated by congressional leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties. The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed it earlier this week.

“To folks who worry that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

“It helps parents and veterans and firefighters and farmers and school cafeterias and more.”

Included in the bill are funds for the US departments of Agriculture, Interior, Commerce, Justice, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Veterans Affairs as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and NASA.

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Republicans won a small cut to domestic funding outside of veterans health care, but far less than the 22 per cent they had hoped for.

Democrats beat back demands for hundreds of conservative policy changes, ranging from banning abortion drugs to cutting off funds for investigations into former president Donald Trump.

Republicans were able to make it easier for veterans deemed mentally incompetent to buy guns, a provision that provoked some Democrats to vote against the measure.