While a $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill passed the Democrat-run Senate 75-20 this week with the support of many Republicans, House GOP members, including those representing Wisconsin, are voicing their disappointment.
Republicans point to exorbitant spending as the major driver of inflation, which reached a 40-year high this year and now stands at 7.11 percent, well above the long-term average of 3.27 percent. The party likely cannot prevent the new spending legislation’s passage as the GOP will not take control of the House of Representatives until January.
“In the last days of one-party Democratic control, Congress is ramming through yet another wasteful omnibus spending bill,” Bryan Steil (R-WI-01) wrote in a Twitter post. “I oppose this reckless budget, which will worsen inflation and do nothing to help struggling families.”
In the last days of one-party Democratic control, Congress is ramming through yet another wasteful omnibus spending bill. I oppose this reckless budget, which will worsen inflation and do nothing to help struggling families.
— Bryan Steil (@RepBryanSteil) December 21, 2022
The Janesville Republican’s northwestern colleague Tom Tiffany (R-WI-07) complained the legislation devotes just over one-third as much money to border security as it does to Ukraine’s defense against the Russian incursion, bespeaking what he considers the majority party’s misplaced priorities.
“$44.9 billion for Ukraine in the Omnibus,” he tweeted. “$16.7 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Democrats continue to protect a foreign country’s border over our OWN.”
$44.9 billion for Ukraine in the Omnibus.
$16.7 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Democrats continue to protect a foreign country’s border over our OWN.
— Rep. Tom Tiffany (@RepTiffany) December 20, 2022
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) backed the bill in her chamber’s vote. Her Republican colleague Ron Johnson (R-WI) voted against it.
Congress delayed work on the spending bill since the start of the new fiscal year in October, approving short-term funding measures, forcing lawmakers to either approve a last-minute omnibus or risk a shutdown as Christmas approaches. Critics have also castigated Senate Democrats for inserting reform to the Electoral Count Act into the legislation, forcing any Republican supporters of the reforms to back massive increases in domestic spending.
Republican former South Carolina governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley blasted many members of her party in the Senate for allowing legislation with many members’ favored hometown projects to pass without much resistance.
“Republicans should have never supported earmarks, period,” she tweeted. “Worse is jamming them through at the last minute — hidden in a $1.7 trillion package that puts us even further into debt. It’s everything the American people don’t trust about Washington.”
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Wisconsin Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
