(FreedomBeacon.com)- Congressional leaders are working feverishly to pass both an economic stimulus bill plus an omnibus spending bill before a Friday deadline that could result in a temporary government shutdown.
But, some Republicans in the House are urging President Donald Trump to veto the omnibus bill, which is estimated at $1.4 trillion. In a letter they sent to the White House on Wednesday, the GOP representatives said the proposal is a “take-it-or-leave-it bill, negotiated behind closed doors. They allege is “expands government, spends at record levels well above 2011 base cap levels and funds unnecessary or even harmful federal programs.”
In addition to the $1.4 trillion omnibus bill, which is needed to continue funding the federal government beyond a midnight Friday deadline, lawmakers are negotiating another coronavirus relief bill. That bill could total $900 billion on its own. Lawmakers are currently hoping to tie the two bills together, which could push the total spending to $2.3 trillion or more.
Final details of both the omnibus spending bill plus the coronavirus relief package haven’t been released yet as Congressional leadership continues to hammer out the details. Among the main sticking points were liability protection for businesses plus funding for local and state governments, but both of those areas of the package seem to have been shelved for now.
The focus instead will be on funding for vaccine distribution, small business relief, unemployment insurance benefits and potentially direct payments to Americans.
The letter sent to the White House came from 14 GOP members of the House, which includes Chip Roy and Louie Gohmert from Texas, Andy Biggs from Arizona and Steve King from Iowa. They argue the omnibus bill alone would add much more to the $27.5 trillion in debt “we already owe.”
The group says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to push through this massive spending package that “fully funds an agenda rejected by the American people.” They point to the Democratic majority that shrank following the November elections.
The Republicans say they have been completely cut off from the process of crafting and negotiating the spending bill. They suggest that the spending bill should be put on hold until the new Congress takes office in January. That, they say, would allow full participation by the members of Congress who are going to be around for the long term.
Their answer to staving off a full and widespread government shutdown is to pass a continuing resolution that would fund the government in the short term.
The GOP lawmakers reminded the president in their letter of what he said when he signed an omnibus bill back in 2018. The letter, which quoted Trump, said:
“I will never sign another bill like this again. I’m not going to do it again. Nobody read it. It’s only hours old. Some people don’t even know what is in — $1.3 trillion — it’s the second-largest ever.”
The representatives concluded by writing:
“This bill promises to be even larger, exemplifying everything that is wrong with the swamp politics of Washington, D.C.”
