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The Senate on Thursday began moving ahead with a $1.7 trillion government funding bill that will provide aid to Ukraine, overhaul electoral reform and more, just hours after negotiations between Republicans and Democrats appeared to be on the verge of breaking down.

Momentum toward a bill with more aid for Ukraine slowed considerably Wednesday, as lawmakers struggled to reach an agreement on amendments needed to get to a final vote and avoid a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday. As Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said late Wednesday, “this bill is hanging by a thread.”

But Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on the Senate floor that the parties reached an agreement on amendments and set a vote to proceed with the omnibus. 

“It’s taken a while, but it’s been worth it,” Schumer said on the Senate floor as he set proceedings in motion. “We will vote on all of the amendments in order and then vote on final passage.”

Senators were set to consider 18 amendments, including one from Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson which would cut all earmarks from the bill, a bipartisan bill from Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy aimed at protecting pregnant workers from discrimination known as Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and two amendments related to Title 42, a pandemic-era border restriction for asylum-seekers.

Schumer urged quick votes on the slew of amendments ahead of a looming winter storm which could have devastating travel impacts nationwide.

At issue was a proposed amendment from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, related to Title 42.

“Sen. Schumer doesn’t want to have a vote on Title 42 because he presumably knows it will pass,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said. But the House won’t go along, he said, and “everything falls apart.”

But Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema introduced an amendment of their own related to Title 42, which should break the impasse.

The impasse came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought to assure lawmakers during a joint meeting of Congress that the aid the U.S. is providing was much appreciated and could “speed up our victory.” 

The bill includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, above even President Joe Biden’s request, and ensures that funding flows to the war effort for months to come. The measure would also boost U.S. defense spending by about 10% to $858 billion, addressing concerns from some lawmakers that more investment in the nation’s military is needed to ensure America’s security.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., faced pushback from many Republicans who didn’t support the spending bill and resent being forced to vote on such a massive package with so little time before a potential shutdown and the Christmas holiday. He highlighted the bill’s spending boost for defense and said that non-defense spending, when excluding a big boost for veterans health care, would increase below the rate of inflation.

“If Republicans controlled this chamber, we would have handled the appropriations process entirely differently from top to bottom,” McConnell said. “But given the reality of where we stand today, senators have two options this week, just two: we will either give our Armed Forces the resources and the certainty that they need, or we will deny it to them.”

The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858 billion for defense and would finance agencies through September.

Lawmakers worked to stuff as many priorities as they could into the sprawling package, likely the last major bill of the current Congress. That includes $27 billion in disaster funding to help communities recovering from disasters and extreme weather events as well as an overhaul of federal election law that aims to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election.

The bipartisan electoral overhaul was a direct response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republican lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

The spending bill also contains scores of policy changes that lawmakers worked furiously to include to avoid having to start over in the new Congress next year.

Examples include a provision from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that bans TikTok on government cell phones due to security concerns. Another provision supported by the Maine delegation was added to aid the state’s lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, delaying regulations proposed to help save endangered North Atlantic right whales. And, on the health care front, the bill requires states to keep children enrolled in Medicaid on coverage for at least a year, which advocates say increases access to preventative care.

However, millions who enrolled in the health care program for low-income Americans could start to lose coverage on April 1 because the bill sunsets a requirement of the COVID-19 public health emergency that prohibited states from booting people off Medicaid.

The bill also provides roughly $15.3 billion for more than 7,200 projects that lawmakers sought for their home states and districts. Under revamped rules for community project funding, also referred to as earmarks, lawmakers must post their requests online and attest they have no financial interest in the projects. Still, many fiscal conservatives criticize the earmarking as leading to unnecessary spending.

Some Republican senators raised objections to the measure, not only because the amount of spending but because of Congress’s habit of placing 12 separate appropriations bills into one massive package long after the fiscal year has begun and just before critical deadlines approach.

“Giving us a bill at 1:28 in the morning, that’s over 4,000 pages, that nobody will have an opportunity to read, that we’ll have no idea what’s in it, is not the way to run your personal life, your business life or your government,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. “This has to stop.”

House Republicans, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., likely the next speaker of the House, are encouraged their colleagues in the Senate to only support a short-term extension. That way, they would have more ability to shape the legislation. McCarthy spoke to senators during their caucus lunch Wednesday. A notice sent by GOP leadership to House members urged them to vote against the measure when it comes to the House.

“This deal is designed to sideline the incoming Republican House Majority by extending many programs for multiple years and providing large funding increases for Democrat priorities on top of the exorbitant spending that has already been appropriated this year,” the notice stated.

The letter echoed a similar threat in a letter sent by 13 Republican lawmakers and lawmakers-elect earlier this week that, if Senate Republicans vote for the bill, they would oppose their legislative priorities.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.