Breaking: House Passes $1.2 Trillion Spending Package to Avoid Shutdown

To avoid a shutdown, the House of Representatives approved a package of bills worth $1.2 trillion on Friday morning. The Senate must now act on the bills. If they are passed, Congress will have pushed fiscal responsibility down to the fall.

Democrats claim victory as usual. The bill contains a lot of pork and programs that are objectionable. These bills contain small increases in spending on illegal immigration to appease Republicans.

Johnson also cited some of the increases in spending that were secured to provide 8,000 additional detention beds, for migrants who are awaiting immigration proceedings or their removal from the United States. This is a roughly 24% increase over current levels. The GOP leadership also highlighted the need for more money to hire 2,000 Border Patrol agents.

Nevertheless, many Republicans in Congress were not placated.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion for her to leave the chair due to the passage of the bills.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-MT, called the bill a victory for Washington. Cartel, not the American people.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-TN, accused Speaker Mike Johnson (D-OH) of being owned by Democrats. He said, “It’s clear that Democrats own the speaker gavel.”

“We told people that we would have a smaller Government and that we would secure the Border. It’s a very sad day.”

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-MO, left no doubt about his position. He called himself “a Hell No on this Bill” and said, “The bottom line is that this is an absolute and complete surrender.”

Rep. Don Bacon, R-NE, noted that the agreement between former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden was similar. “People were living a fantasy world thinking we would do something different from what McCarthy agreed to with the president.”