Congressional leaders unveiled a government-wide $1.7 trillion spending package Tuesday that includes another large round of aid to Ukraine, a nearly 10% boost in defense spending and roughly $40 billion to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that he hopes lawmakers can move ahead on final passage of the bill "as early as tonight."

The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding and would last through the end of the fiscal year in September.

"I hope we can vote on final passage much sooner than that, even as early as tonight," Schumer said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. "There's no reason for the Senate to wait, and plenty of reasons to move quickly before a potential blizzard makes travel hazardous for members, their staff and families right before the Christmas season."

What's not yet clear is whether or not there is an agreement on timing for the vote or on how many amendments the Senate might consider. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson offered an amendment Tuesday to strike all earmarks from the bill, while Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy offered the Pregnant Fairness Workers Act – a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting pregnant workers from workplace discrimination – for consideration.

"In an effort to reach final passage soon, both sides will continue negotiating a number of amendments that I hope we can begin voting on later today," Schumer said. "But again, that's going to require cooperation, so I urge my colleagues not to stand in the way in moving this process forward."

Lawmakers worked to stuff in as many priorities as they could into the sprawling package, likely the last major bill of the current Congress. They are racing to complete passage before a midnight Friday deadline or face the prospect of a partial government shutdown going into the Christmas holiday.

The spending package includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion, according to Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. It would be the biggest American infusion of assistance yet to Ukraine, above even President Joe Biden’s $37 billion emergency request, and ensure that funding flows to the war effort for months to come.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday applauded the funding, saying it gives the Biden administration "flexibility" to help Ukraine. 

"We're going to continue to work with Ukraine in lockstep, day after day, to provide them the kinds of capabilities that we think can be helpful to them in terms of their self defense," Kirby later said, without confirming media reports that the U.S. would soon send the country a Patriot missile system and other advance munition.

The U.S. has provided about $68 billion to Ukraine in previous rounds of military, economic and humanitarian assistance.

“The bitterness of winter has descended on Eastern Europe, and if our friends in Ukraine hope to triumph Russia, America must stand firmly on the side of our democratic friends abroad," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The legislation also includes historic revisions to federal election law that aim to prevent any future presidents or presidential candidates from trying to overturn an election. The bipartisan overhaul of the Electoral Count Act is in 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 President Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

“We are now one step closer to protecting our democracy and preventing another January 6th," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has warned that if the fiscal year 2023 spending measure fails to gain bipartisan support this week, he would seek another short-term patch into next year, guaranteeing that the new Republican majority in the House would get to shape the package.

Leahy argued against that approach in releasing the bill saying, “the choice is clear. We can either do our jobs and fund the government, or we can abandon our responsibilities without a real path forward."

McConnell said the GOP's negotiations were successful in the end. He framed the longer-term spending bill as a victory for the GOP, even as many will undoubtedly vote against it. He said Republicans were successful in increasing defense spending far beyond Biden's request while scaling back some of the increase Biden wanted for domestic spending.

“We've transferred huge sums of money away from Democrats' spending wish list toward our national defense and armed forces, but without allowing the overall cost of the package to go higher," McConnell said.

Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement that neither side got everything it wanted in the deal. But she praised the measure as “good for our economy, our competitiveness, and our country, and I urge Congress to send it to the President’s desk without delay.”

The spending on non-defense programs will increase by about 6%. That number includes a 22% increase for VA medical care to help pay for an expansion of health care services and benefits to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their service. Some environmental advocacy groups expressed frustration with the funding increases for agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service, which they said don't keep up with inflation.

The bill's unveiling was delayed by haggling over language related to location of the FBI's future headquarters. Maryland lawmakers have argued that ensuring predominately Black communities get their fair share of federal investments should be more thoroughly considered as part of the selection process. They are advocating for building the headquarters at one of two sites in Maryland's Prince George's County, a majority-Black county. Virginia is also competing for the headquarters.

A Senate Democratic aide familiar with the negotiations said Schumer worked to incorporate language in the spending bill ensuring the General Service Administration conduct “separate and detailed consultations" with lawmakers representing the Maryland and Virginia sites to get their perspectives.

Lawmakers are nearing completion of the 2023 spending package nearly three months late. It was supposed to be finished by last Oct. 1, when the government’s fiscal year began.

The last time Congress enacted all its spending bills by then was in 1996, when the Senate finished its work on Sept. 30, the very last day of the budget year. Then-President Bill Clinton signed it that same day.

The Senate is expected to vote on the spending bill first where support from at least 10 Republican senators will be needed to pass it before the measure is considered by the House. As has been the case with recent catchall spending bills, lawmakers voiced concerns about passing legislation containing thousands of pages on short notice.

“We still haven’t seen a single page of the Pelosi-Schumer spending bill, and they’re expecting us to pass it by the end of this week," tweeted Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. “It’s insane."

In an interview with Spectrum News, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson criticized the process as "exactly the kind of dysfunction that is mortgaging our children's future."

Johnson expressed concerns about increased federal spending and a potential impact on inflation before railing against earmarks in the bill, calling them a "gateway drug."

"It's one of the reasons they're able to cobble together the votes to pass these massive deficit spending measures," he said, making the case that earmark spending is used to "grease the skids for passing these terrible piece of legislation."

McConnell said he shares “many of my colleagues dissatisfaction" with the process. But he cited national security concerns for wanting to pass the bill, saying that failure to do so would “give our Armed Forces confusion and uncertainty" while China pours money into new research and weapons for its military.

“This is not a close call. The Senate should pass this bill," McConnell said.

Spectrum News' Taurean Small and Reuben Jones contributed to this report.