Huge $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill passes the House despite GOP opposition
Virginia Aabram
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The House of Representatives passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill that will fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year.
The spending bill cleared the lower chamber in a 226-201 vote on Friday, with just nine Republicans joining Democrats to back the legislation, with one Democrat voting present. It will now head to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
12 WOKE EARMARKS IN THE OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a progressive, was the only Democrat to vote against the bill. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), also a member of the progressive “Squad,” voted present. The nine Republicans who voted for the bill are mostly not returning in January. They are Reps. John Katko (R-NY), Chris Jacobs (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Steve Womack (R-AR), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and Liz Cheney (R-WY).
The government will stay open thanks to a continuing resolution that will extend funding at current levels until Dec. 30, as the deadline for a funding bill had been Friday night and Biden won’t be able to sign the omnibus until next week when the House clerks finish filing it. The Senate passed the omnibus and its accompanying continuing resolution Thursday after days of negotiations. Lawmakers have moved the funding deadline multiple times since September, when the last fiscal year ended, and the approaching Christmas recess forced lawmakers into a time crunch on the bill.
The omnibus contains $858 billion in defense spending and $772 billion in nondefense discretionary spending, both increased over last year’s levels, and it will fund the government until Sept. 30. The spending also provides $45 billion in aid to Ukraine, bans TikTok on government devices, and amends the Electoral Count Act to make it more difficult for lawmakers to challenge the certification of presidential elections.
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Some conservative lawmakers strongly opposed the 4,000-page bill on the basis that they had little time to read it and that it contains earmarked spending. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) threatened that the 18 Senate Republicans who voted for it would get no help on their legislative priorities from the new Republican majority in the House come January. Sen. Kevin Cramer (D-ND) said the threat made McCarthy sound “naive.”
McCarthy is trying to gain support from the conservative wing of his conference after several members said they won’t vote for him for House speaker in the Jan. 3 election.