President Bush said he was successful in cutting billions in domestic spending from the measure, but he acknowledged that the bill still includes more money for additional programs than he would have liked.
It would also add money for some of the Democrats' domestic priorities, including unemployment assistance, a new GI bill to fund education benefits for military veterans and a package of tax credits for renewable energy sources.
The new bill ensures that, like other employees, domestic workers will build up a fund of money paid by their employers, equivalent to 8% of monthly pay, to be made available upon compulsory redundancy, death and other contingencies.