House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy blasted the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill after it passed on Friday, calling it a “stain” on this Congress. The United States is currently more than $31 trillion in debt.
“For the first time in history, a bill in the House was passed without a physical quorum present—more people voted by proxy than in person,” McCarthy tweeted. “The omnibus will damage our country, & the blatant disregard for Article I, Section 5 of our Constitution will forever stain this Congress.“
The bill passed by a vote of 225-201, with nine Republicans voting in favor of the omnibus. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., voted against the bill and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. voted present.
McCarthy also said in the tweet that Republicans will “change the direction” of America after taking control of the House of Representatives in January, adding that proxy voting will be repealed.
HOUSE QUICKLY APPROVES $1.7T SPENDING BILL, FLEES DC FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California speaks at an election event, Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
“We will also return the House back to a functioning constitutional body by repealing proxy voting once and for all,” McCarthy said.
The bill, which funds the government through September 2023, has $858 billion in funding for defense, $787 billion for domestic programs that are non-defense, and close to $45 billion for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Many Republicans, including McCarthy, worked to pass a short-term government funding bill lasting until mid-January, which would give the party more control of what is in the bill.
In total, the omnibus contains 7,200 earmarks that add up to over $15 billion.
HOUSE DEM DUMPS ON DEMOCRAT SENATE FOR FORCING RUSHED VOTE ON $1.7T SPENDING BILL: ‘UNACCEPTABLE’
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks about Republicans’ “Commitment to America” agenda at DMI Companies in Monongahela, Pa., Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
The bill drew complaints from Republicans and some Democrats, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., saying that “The process stinks.”
“It’s an abomination. It’s a no good, rotten way to run your government. $6 trillion entity. And they want 24 hours to process this and then they want to go forward,” Paul said.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that the government funding process is “unacceptable.”
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The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
“In reality… this bill should have been passed in September of this year,” Hoyer said. “Why? Because the fiscal year ends on September 30th, and fiscal year ’23 begins on October 1st of this year.”
Fox News’ Haris Alic contributed to this report.