Thursday on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings With Maria Bartiromo,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said the Omnibus appropriations bill’s “secret behind closed doors” negotiation is one of the reasons Americans are fed up with Washington, D.C.
McCain said he is opposing the bill “because it gives tens of millions of dollars to Vladimir Putin, and his cronies, that has been various studies news reports a lot of money is going to Vladimir Putin’s cronies, shell organizations that pick up millions along the way.”
“And most importantly, we should not be dependent on Russia, for rocket engines, and it is not necessary to continue unrestrained purchases,” he continued. “The senator from Alabama, where they are made, and the senator from Illinois where the headquarters are snuck in this provision, in this huge bill, in the middle of the night. They had plenty of opportunities, to attempt that when we were doing the bill, in the weeks that it was on the floor defense authorization bill. They didn’t they chose to put it in in the the middle of the night, in a fashion that I find totally unacceptable.”
He continued, “They had behind the scenes negotiations on an omnibus bill, remember this is not a defense appropriations bill it is and ominous bill. We didn’t pass individual appropriations bills, so when the authorization bill is on the floor that is when you have amendments when you have debates, that is when you have votes. We had over 120 some amendments considered. They didn’t try it then because they knew they wouldn’t succeed. Then to put together this massive trillion-dollar bill in secret behind closed doors —just a few of them— and then they inserted it without vote without debate without discussion. That is not acceptable.”
Host Maria Bartiromo clarified, “Senator [Richard] Shelby did this without confronting you or discussing this right? And Senator [Dick] Durbin?”
He answered, “They had plenty of opportunity can when defense authorization bill which is the proper vehicle not appropriations bill. The appropriations bill only supposed to be for money. The authorization is what makes policy. This is the classic reason why Americans are fed up with Washington.”
He added, “I will not vote for it. I will not vote for it because there is also, by the way, two billion dollars worth of medical bailouts for different medical reasons put on the defense appropriations where it has no place.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN