Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) warned Republicans Thursday that their support for massive Democratic omnibus spending bills will lead to the death of the party.
There were 18 Republican senators who voted in favor of this week’s package.
Speaking on Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” the representative declared that the GOP “devastatingly” went “through the motions” and aligned with the solid wall of Democrats. The 4,155-page bill was negotiated, he asserted, “in secret by four or five members of Congress.”
Lee agreed that it was not a good showing by Senate Republicans. The lawmaker also concurred with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) when he declared the party “has emasculated itself.”
The GOP senator noted the obvious — that there’s not a “human alive” who could review the entire bill in such a short time. This, he said, is why this process should never be repeated.
He added that the Republican Party “will self-destruct” if this course of action is allowed to continue.
My thoughts following the unfortunate passage of the $1.7 trillion omnibus. pic.twitter.com/LwoFgf5ZvF
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) December 22, 2022
Lee valiantly attempted to make something good out of something bad in the ongoing dispute over the Trump-era Title 42 border restrictions. The Utah Republican introduced an amendment to bar the Biden administration’s foolhardy attempt to end the effective policy.
That amendment was rejected on a simple party-line vote 50-47.
The Senate’s passage of the bill, along with the House’s positive vote on Friday, means Congress will be home for Christmas. There was considerable pressure on lawmakers to agree to the deal to avoid a holiday government shutdown as well as to get out of Washington.
Democrats were obviously thrilled with its passage. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) praised it as “one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a very long time.”
Increases in spending were across the board. There is $858 billion for defense, an almost 10% increase over the previous fiscal year. The $787 billion set aside for nondefense expenditures represents an almost 8% jump.
Everything from supplemental aid for Ukraine to driftnet fishing regulations is included.
The Republican Party had a golden opportunity to unite behind party principles and say no to this massive and wasteful package. And while some did exactly that, far too many went along with the establishment and did the expedient thing rather than the right thing.
