Germany has taken a major step towards freeing up hundreds of billions of euros in debt financing for defense and infrastructure, heralding the end of decades of budget austerity, with a landmark spending package approved on March 18. The controversial legislation, pushed by conservative Chancellor-elect Merz, cleared the two-thirds threshold needed to amend the constitution on Tuesday by 513 votes out of 733 in the lower house of parliament. The bill would largely lift debt limits on defense spending, creating a potentially unlimited supply of money for rearming to deter Russia. It would also set up a 500 billion euro ($546 billion) fund to invest in the country's aging infrastructure.