The final vote for the defense-focused portion of the omnibus (with some non-defense appropriations attached) was 81-11 with only four Republicans voting in opposition. The final vote for the non-defense portion of the omnibus was 71-23.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) voted for the defense-focused portion of the omnibus and against the non-defense portion, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) voted against both measures.
Sen. Cruz called the overall bill a “$1.4 trillion spending monstrosity [that] plunges our nation even further into debt.”
He continued, stating, “This ridiculous, rushed, end-of-year spending process, year after year, is an example of government of the lobbyists, by the lobbyists, and for the lobbyists.”
Sen. Cornyn has not yet put out a statement on the vote.
The bill will now be sent to President Trump’s desk where he is expected to sign it. White House spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway told reporters, “The president is poised to sign it to keep the government open.”
Last year, the government partially shut down over the lack of desired border funding from Congress.
At that time, Trump said he’d “never sign [an omnibus bill] again.” This time around, Congress only approved $1.375 billion in border funding when the President requested $8.6 billion.
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the omnibus will add nearly $500 billion to the national debt over the next decade.
Earlier this year, Congress approved a deal to bust previous spending caps set by the Budget Control Act of 2011 by $323 billion — effectively undoing the most significant legislative accomplishment of the Tea Party movement.
This omnibus is an appropriations deal, dictating where to send the money approved earlier this year.
The national debt has risen nearly $5 billion since the House passed the omnibus earlier this week.
###
Disclosure: Unlike almost every other media outlet, The Texan is not beholden to any special interests, does not apply for any type of state or federal funding, and relies exclusively on its readers for financial support. If you’d like to become one of the people we’re financially accountable to, click here to subscribe.
Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
