Trump tells Republicans to vote against ‘disaster’ omnibus spending bill as deal struck
Cami Mondeaux
Former President Donald Trump weighed in on the goverment omnibus spending bill just hours before the midnight deadline, urging Republicans to vote against the “disaster” legislation.
In a video posted on his Truth Social account on Thursday, Trump lashed out against several earmark provisions that are included in the $1.7 trillion annual spending bill, lamenting the country is “going to hell” because of the measures Democrats are seeking to include in the legislation.
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“Every single Republican should vote no on the ludicrous, unacceptable $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill. It’s a disaster for our country,” Trump said. “Biden in the radical Democrats are trying to ram through this monstrosity in the dark of night when no one has even had a chance to read. It’s over 4,000 pages crammed with left-wing disasters, Washington betrayals, and special interest sellouts all designed to keep the corruption going without lifting a single finger to solve the problems.”
SENATE TO VOTE TODAY ON OMNIBUS BILL AFTER SCHUMER ANNOUNCES DEAL STRUCK
Trump’s comments come just hours before lawmakers are set to vote on the omnibus spending bill ahead of the midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown. Democrats have been scrambling to push the legislation through Congress before the end of the year and before Republicans take control of the House in January.
The former president especially hit out against the lack of increased border protections in the spending bill, pointing to increased military aid to foreign countries as a “disaster for our country.”
“This bill will make the border worse, it will make crime worse, it will make the economy worse,” Trump said. “It will make inflation worse, it will make every single one of Joe Biden’s total catastrophes even more ruinous and damaging to our country. Our country is going to hell because of what they’ve done in the last two years. Passing a spending bill now, before Republicans take control of Congress on Jan. 3 would squander a best chance to hold Biden fully accountable and force him to secure the border in the new year.
Trump’s comments come as lawmakers have pushed to come to an agreement on how to address the surge in illegal immigration at the southern border, particularly as the White House is poised to terminate the Trump-era Title 42 policy that allows border agents to expel migrants immediately upon encountering them. That policy was put in place in 2020 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Some GOP lawmakers threatened to stall the spending legislation until Congress could come to an agreement on Title 42, threatening the Senate’s ability to pass the omnibus with just hours before a government shutdown. Title 42 was set to expire on Wednesday but has since been extended by the Supreme Court after an emergency plea from 19 Republican-led states urging the court to keep the Trump-era policy.
“Democrats and Cocaine Mitch gave President Trump an early Christmas gift,” a Trump adviser told the Washington Examiner. “Washington has no idea how much people in this country really care about border security, and now we get to retake the narrative.”
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema unveiled an amendment to the government omnibus spending bill that would extend the Title 42 immigration policy until a “proper plan” can replace it, potentially easing concerns of some Republican senators who threatened to vote against the spending legislation until concerns surrounding the southern border were resolved.
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Other Republican leaders have criticized the omnibus bill for similar reasons to Trump, arguing Democrats are using the midnight deadline to push the 4,155-page spending package through Congress without giving lawmakers adequate time to read it through.
The $1.7 trillion spending bill includes a number of provisions to keep the government funded through the next fiscal year, as well as a handful of earmark measures that lawmakers have sought to include for passage, things such as additional military aid to Ukraine, renaming federal buildings after top lawmakers, and more. Several House Republicans have pushed against the proposals, vowing to vote against the legislation.