Democrat’s Half a Trillion Omnibus Is a Hodgepodge of Too Much Spending, Misplaced Priorities

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Jerry Lewis, Ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee blasted the Democrats massive, $447 billion Omnibus Appropriations bill that will be considered today on the House floor.

 

The Omnibus contains six of the seven remaining Appropriations bills that have yet to be approved by Congress this year, including the Commerce, Justice, Science bill, the Financial Services bill, the Labor, Health, and Human Services bill, the State and Foreign Operations bill, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill, and the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill.

 

Lewis remarked that this huge hodgepodge of spending bills – including every remaining Appropriations bill but Defense -  is a result of the failure of Democrat leaders to pass the necessary funding for the federal government through the regular Appropriations process prior to the end of the fiscal year in September.

 

The overly generous funding level in the Omnibus allows virtually every agency and account to benefit from significant increases, and that tough but necessary decisions were not made to maintain fiscal discipline, Lewis stated.  The rate of overall spending in the Omnibus corresponds with the Democrat’s budget blueprint that increases non-defense, discretionary spending by 12% over last year. When all Appropriations spending is combined, the Democrat majority will have increased non-defense, non-veterans discretionary spending by 85% over the last two fiscal years.

 

“There is no question that the era of big government has returned to Washington, DC.  I cannot and will not support this package of spending bills because it simply spends too much money and makes a mockery of our legislative process,” Lewis said.

 

“Sadly, the misplaced priorities of this Congress have resulted in too much spending, fewer jobs, and bigger government that the public doesn’t want and can’t afford.  Some in Washington refer to this unrestrained spending as ‘change we can believe in.’ Most people in our country would call it ‘business as usual,’” he continued.