Congress Rushes Vote for Trillion Dollar Bill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) helped negotiate a deal to rush the votes for the $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill.

According to The Hill:

The agreement puts the Senate on track to finish its work Friday afternoon. Under the deal, the tax and spending bills, which are being moved simultaneously in the Senate to save time, could face up to three procedural votes before final passage.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), along with many other members of Congress, had been urging for an earlier vote in order for members to get back home for the holidays.

“Nobody, I think, sees any benefit of stringing this out any longer than necessary, so my hope is that we’ll be able to conclude this Friday,” Sen. John Cornyn told reporters.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)  was in support of slowing down the vote for at least a few days in order to give Americans time to learn what’s in the bill. Rubio said Thursday on Fox News that he would work to slow down the process.

“I know enough to say we’re going to oppose it and I know enough to say that we should use every procedural aspect that we have to slow it down and perhaps force some changes on these things that we’ve been discussing,” Rubio said.

However, right after Rubio’s interview, the Senate reached a deal, which required the consent of ever Senator, to rush the vote to Friday. Rubio was absent for the vote.

Adam Jentleson, the Chief of Staff for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, announced on Twitter that there is no longer anything that Rubio can do to slow down the vote.