House OKs $1.5 Trillion Bill in Just 24 Hours

The House of Representative released a $1.5 trillion, 2,741-page omnibus spending bill in the middle of the night on March 9 and passed it only about 24 hours after it was released, according to The Hill.

While there was little time to review what’s actually in the bill, we already know that it includes lots of wasteful spending.

There’s $3 million for a fisherman’s coop facility in Guam, $1 million for a “farm-to-refrigerator training facility” in Pennsylvania, $2.5 million for a museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and $2 million for George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication.

This omnibus bill funds the federal government through September by packaging different funding goals into one massive piece of legislation.

Of course, it would take days for members of Congress, even with the help of their staff, to read through a 2,700+ page bill and know what they were voting on. Nonetheless, Speaker Nancy Pelosi intended to vote on it only several hours after it was released, The Hill reported.

That plan was foiled when members of her own party opposed plans to reallocate Covid-19 funds from states to help pay for the federal response to the pandemic, according to the report. Eventually, a deal was made, and the bill passed later that night, according to The Hill.

Included in the massive bill is $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine, $782 billion in defense spending and $730 billion in non-defense spending, Roll Call reported.

Republicans celebrated a 5.6 percent increase to the Pentagon’s budget, while Democrats cheered the 6.7 percent increase in spending on social programs and additional funding for executive agencies.

The bill now heads to the Senate for approval.

OpenTheBooks.com has sponsored a petition called “Read the Bill” that calls on Congress to publicly post its bills at least 72 hours before a vote so the public, media, and members can understand what is being voted on.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.