As lawmakers send the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill to Congress in hopes of getting it passed before the new year, not everyone is on board with the hefty spending bill.
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) will reportedly oppose the bill that Senate Republicans negotiated with Democrats.
In a tweet, McCarthy said that he’d block the legislative priority of any senator who votes for the $1.66 trillion omnibus package being supported by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel.
However, 21 Senate Republicans disregarded McCarthy’s warning and began to vote on the bill.
According to Punchbowl News, McCarthy’s break with McConnel will reportedly come at a GOP lunch meeting Wednesday, just 24 hours after the Senate leadership agreed to the omnibus bill.
Vowing to let another omnibus bill happen again when the GOP takes over the House, McCarthy accused the omnibus spending bill of being passed through a process where no one can read it and without a committee process.
“They moved a continuing resolution until right before Christmas. They’re passing — trying to pass this where nobody can read it. You’re correct, you have Leahy (D-VT) and Shelby (R-AL) — two Senators who will no longer be Senators 14 days from now — write a bill that they wouldn’t even show anybody. Then they’re going to have the House of Representatives tell them you can’t leave for Christmas until you vote on this,” McCarthy told Fox News.
The Republican said that the multi-trillion dollar omnibus bill needs to be stopped so that Americans will not have to suffer from financial burden anymore.
“Don’t buy into what the Democrats planned all along. They never moved these bills through the light of day. They never had a hearing in the process. And you know what, when we take the majority, we won’t allow the Senate bills to come up unless they move through committee,” McCarthy said, adding “we won’t allow them to do an omnibus again. But we need to stop this one now, let us craft one at the beginning of next year where we can save and eliminate waste, but save money for the taxpayer as well.”
Democrats in Washington know they are about to lose one-party rule in 17 days. That’s why they are rushing to jam through a massive spending blowout before Christmas—and they’re hoping you’ll be too distracted with the holidays to even notice.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 17, 2022
McCarthy is fighting to be House Speaker on January 3, and McConnell says he still supports a bid for him.