A $1.7tn spending bill financing federal agencies through September and providing more aid to a devastated Ukraine cleared the House of Representatives on Friday as lawmakers raced to finish their work for the year and avoid a partial government shutdown. The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. Having already received Senate approval, it is headed to Joe Biden’s desk for the president to sign it into law. Biden on Friday signed into law a separate short-term spending bill aimed at giving Congress more time to pass the legislation funding the federal government through the summer, White House officials said in a statement. The bill’s passage represented a closing act for Nancy Pelosi’s second stint as House speaker and for the Democratic majority she led back to power in the 2018 election. Republicans will take control of the House next year, and Kevin McCarthy is campaigning to replace her. He is seeking support from staunch conservatives in his caucus who have largely trashed the size of the bill and many of the priorities it contains. He spoke with a raised voice for about 25 minutes, assailing the bill for spending too much and doing too little to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl across the US border with Mexico. “This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I’ve ever seen in this body,” McCarthy said of the legislation. Pelosi said “we have a big bill here because we had big needs for the country,” then turned her focus to McCarthy: “It was sad to hear [him] say that this legislation is the most shameful thing to be seen on the House floor in this Congress,” Pelosi said, before suggesting McCarthy must have forgotten the 6 January 2021, attack on the Capitol which was staged by supporters of Donald Trump. Biden applauded the bill’s approval, with the president saying it was proof that Republicans and Democrats can work together. “I’m looking forward to continued bipartisan progress in the year ahead,” Biden added.