US President Donald Trump (middle) signed a decree in Washington DC on April 27 (Photo: AFP/ VNA)

On Thursday, the upper chamber voted 79 to 18 to advance the 1.2 trillion USD bipartisan bill after weeks of talks between both parties in Congress, as well as the White House. The bill was also passed by the House of Representatives despite protests from more than 100 Republicans. Under the bill, 600 billion USD will be spent on national defense, and 1.5 billion USD to foster border security but it does not include expenses for building a wall bordering Mexico. President Donald Trump proposed to increase spending on space exploration, and medical research.