House to Consider 1,582-Page Omnibus Spending Bill Less than Two Days, Then Vote

The omnibus spending bill that House Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) introduced with Senate Appropriations Committee chairwoman Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is more than 1,500 pages long – and House lawmakers are expected to vote on it less than two days after it was introduced.

More specifically, the bill is 1,582 pages long. It is the second part of the budget deal that House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) cut with Senate Budget Committee chairwoman Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). The Ryan-Murray deal set broad outlays, while the Rogers-Mikulski omnibus spending bill offers specific funding directed at various programs and agencies as part of a reflection of the guidelines of the Ryan-Murray deal.

Via Twitter, the Senate Budget Committee GOP staff who work for ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) sent out a photo of the omnibus bill with a question for their Twitter followers: “The House will vote on the omnibus as little as 46 hours after receiving it. Could you read this thing that quickly?”

Jenny Beth Martin, the national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, says there is no way lawmakers can read that large bill before voting on it.

“While Americans suffer the consequences of Obamacare, Congress is trying to rush through another massive bill before reading it,” Martin said in a statement Tuesday. 

The Omnibus bill, a 1,582-page monstrosity with a price tag of $1.1 trillion, was quietly introduced under the cover of darkness on Monday night, and is being rushed to a vote before Congress can read it. Has Congress learned nothing from the Obamacare disaster? We need members in the House and the Senate who are willing to keep their campaign promises, stand up for the people, and protect Americans from Washington’s tax, borrow, spend and spend and spend mentality.

Martin further called the omnibus spending package “unacceptable” and something that “sets the stage for another debt increase in February.” Martin argued that Congress is spending money that the government does not have.

“The mindset of ‘who cares about the future’ is a travesty and completely irresponsible,” Martin said. “One trillion dollars does not appear magically out of thin air. The only way to pay for such a mess is to borrow, and borrow some more. Congress may be deluding themselves, but the American people will hold them responsible for this fiscal irresponsibility.”