Trump signs $1.4 trillion bill to avoid government shutdown, raise minimum age for tobacco

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed a $1.4 trillion spending package Friday that will put off the possibility of a government shutdown until next fall, earmark money for gun violence research and raise the age for buying tobacco to 21 .

The bipartisan legislation, which will keep the government funded through September, not only avoids a shutdown that had been scheduled for Friday but also represents a remarkable moment of cooperation just days after House Democrats impeached Trump .

Trump secured $1.4 billion for barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, the same amount lawmakers approved last year. The amount far less than the $8.6 billion Trump had requested, a demand that led to the longest shutdown in U.S. history earlier this year .

The president signed the measure aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida, where he will spend Christmas.

Included in the package is a provision that would make it a violation of federal law to sell tobacco to anyone under 21 , up from the current age of 18. The new minimum age would apply to all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping cartridges.

Tobacco: Congress poised to raise age to buy tobacco, vaping products from 18 to 21

Guns: Gun violence research could be funded by Congress for first time in 20 years

The measure also includes $25 million for research into gun violence , split between the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lawmakers have fiercely debated approving that funding for years amid a spate of high-profile mass shootings in public places.

Earlier Friday Trump signed a $738 billion defense bill into law that created his long promised "Space Force" branch of the military. Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a pay raise for troops, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

More: Donald Trump signs defense bill that creates Space Force

John Fritze covers the White House. Follow him @jfritze.

Contributing: Christal Hayes, William Cummings, David Jackson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump signs $1.4 trillion spending bill to raise age for tobacco sales