In addition to highlighting new funding for Democratic priorities and stressing the urgency of getting the package to President Biden before a potential shutdown at the end of the week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pleading with her supporters to support a sizable bill that would fund the government for the majority of next year.
The outgoing Speaker listed several Democratic victories in the package in a letter to fellow Democrats, including provisions to increase nutrition funding for low-income children, provide a significant increase in funding for veteran health care, and assist those affected by natural disasters across the nation.
The passage of this omnibus bill is critical and required, according to Pelosi, “so that we may keep government open and delivering for America’s families.”
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House Republicans have been quite critical of both the financing package’s content and the procedure that led to it, so bringing the party’s members together behind the idea could be vital. Republican senators have been urged to oppose a long-term budget package in favor of a temporary fix that would give the incoming House Republican majority more negotiating power. Republicans are expected to assume control of the lower chamber in January.
Breaking with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is supporting the legislation, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is vying for the Speaker’s gavel next year and needs conservative support to get it, has joined the chorus of critics. This has increased pressure on Pelosi and Democrats to support the bill. With a small House majority, they probably won’t need many defections.
Only nine House Republicans had voted earlier this month in favor of a one-week stopgap bill to avert a shutdown last Friday, underscoring similar dynamics. Additionally, a group of conservatives is already threatening to take action against Republican senators who support the bill; McCarthy promptly backed this strategy.
If this over $2T behemoth is allowed to go against our objections and the will of the American people, their proposals will be dead on arrival in the House when I’m Speaker, McCarthy tweeted.
The $1.7 trillion funding package, dubbed an omnibus in Washington and unveiled shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday, would finance federal departments through the balance of fiscal 2023, which runs through September. Large portions of the government are slated to shut down at the end of the day on Friday absent congressional action.
After contentious post-midterm discussions, three major appropriators—Sens. Pat Leahy (D–Vt.), Richard Shelby (R–Ala.), and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D–Ct.), a close Pelosi ally—arrived at the measure. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who is DeLauro’s equivalent, is not present, which illustrates the opposition of House GOP leaders to the procedure.
The plan includes $773 billion for other domestic initiatives, including $119 billion for veterans health care, a 22 percent increase over last year’s expenditure, and $858 billion for defense programs, over $80 billion more than current levels.
Pelosi and other Democratic backers were quick to tout the increase in health care expenditure as well as other clauses they were able to negotiate during the negotiations. The top items on that list were additional Medicaid medical support for low-income families, an increase in financing for mental health care, and over $45 billion in new military and humanitarian aid to help Ukraine withstand Russia’s protracted invasion.
Pelosi also applauds the inclusion of the Electoral Count Act, which was passed in response to President Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in the 2020 election and the ensuing rampage at the U.S. Capitol. The act is intended to ensure the orderly and peaceful transition of power between administrations.
This will aid in thwarting future attempts to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power, as we saw on January 6th, Pelosi wrote. However, the package’s bipartisan nature assures that neither side receives everything it desires. Additionally, the law omitted a number of Democratic demands.
The most well-known of these suggestions included those to achieve sentencing equity between offenses involving crack cocaine and its powder substitute, provide parity between defense and nondefense spending, allocate more money to combat COVID-19, grant new rights to young undocumented immigrants.
Liberal organizations are also upset by the lack of a bipartisan reform bill to break up Big Tech monopolies. Environmentalists are also yelling that a clause intended to aid northeastern lobster fisheries could result in the extinction of North Atlantic right whales, who are already critically endangered.
Brett Hartl, the Center for Biological Diversity’s director of government affairs, stated, “What a dreadful legacy to leave to one’s grandkids.”
The first to admit that the package isn’t everything her party worked for is Pelosi, who has headed the House Democrats for the past 20 years. However, she is touting the package as the last and best opportunity for the Democrats to maximize their leverage before the House switches hands in her final weeks as the party’s leader. She claimed that the omnibus would “end on a strong note” the “most momentous” 117th Congress.
