Conservatives Agree with President Trump: “Never Again” Should Congress Pass an Omnibus Boondoggle, and “Never Again” Should He Sign One.
Congress recently passed, and the President signed, a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill that gives Democrats everything they want while violating key conservative principles on both policy and process.
By relinquishing control of the process to Democrats, the Republican leadership allowed many provisions in the bill to stand out as clear violations of the promises that Republicans made to voters. They include the following:
- $500 million for Planned Parenthood.
- Full funding for sanctuary cities.
- $20 billion for Amtrak, including money for Sen. Schumer’s New York-New Jersey Gateway Tunnel.
- Language prohibiting construction of the wall along the Mexican border, and only $1.6 billion for repairs to the existing.
- A gun control provision that could be used to “disarm law-abiding Americans.”
- Maintains the “status quo” on Obamacare.
- The text of 24 unrelated bills that were added without debate or amendments.
- Spending increases that are twice as high as any request made by President Obama, at a time when President Trump’s nominees to run various programs are being slow-walked through the Senate.
The 2,232-page bill was made public less than 24 hours before House members were asked to vote, in direct violation of the House’s 72-hour rule. The rule reflects a promise that Republicans made in their Pledge to America to allow at least three legislative days for Members of Congress and the public to read bills before a vote. “No more hiding legislative language,” they wrote. “Legislation should be understood by all interested parties before it is voted on.” Moreover, the House Rules Committee blocked attempts by any Members to offer amendments.
In the Senate, there was very little debate, and no amendments. Though seven budgetary points of order laid against the legislation, none of these points of order were challenged or debated. A 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion bill passed the Congress 48-hours after it was introduced with minimal debate and without Members being allowed to offer any changes.
President Trump rightly called the bill “ridiculous,” and called out Members of both chambers for the hasty, haphazard way the bill was passed. He also pledged that he would “never sign another bill like this again.”
We support the President in this regard and will insist that this promise is kept. We call upon the Congress to fulfill its constitutional role with more transparency, deliberation, and thoughtfulness. Appropriations bills should be given ample time for consideration, debate and amendments. Omnibus spending bills should be the rare exception, instead of norm.
Specifically, once an individual appropriations bill is passed by the House, the Senate should schedule time for its consideration and allow time for consideration, debate and amendments. The Senate, in particular, should prioritize the debate, amendment and passage of individual appropriations bills over wasting time in endless quorum calls.
Future funding bills should restore the spending caps signed by President Obama in 2011 to force fiscal discipline onto the government. They should fully fund the border wall, defund sanctuary cities and, at a minimum, defund Planned Parenthood and apply Hyde and conscience protections across the government, as Republicans have been promising to do for decades. Finally, the bill should not include extraneous bills that grow government, and bills that do should be subject to executive-led recession in the areas where money cannot be responsibly spent.
Republicans have long promised that, if they were given congressional majorities, they would use that mandate to affect positive change across the government. Sadly, we are seeing even worse spending, process, and policy outcomes than we saw with a Democratic president. This is untenable. We urge the Republican majority to prioritize their promises over expediency, and we call on President Trump to reject future efforts that do not meet his expectations, or the expectations of the voters who elected him.
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The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Former Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan
Alfred S. Regnery
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Chairman, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund
Thomas E. McClusky
President
March for Life Action
The Honorable Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio
Wesley Denton
Former Communications Director
Senator Jim DeMint (SC)
The Honorable Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring, Inc.
Jenny Beth Martin
Chairman
Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund
The Honorable Jim DeMint
U.S. Senate
Former Member, South Carolina
Ed Corrigan
Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Former Executive Director, Senate Steering Committee
Rachel Bovard
Former Policy Director
Senate Steering Committee
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
Former White House Advisor
President Ronald Reagan
William L. Walton
Chairman
CNP Action, Inc.
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
Diana Banister
President and Partner
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Former Chief Domestic Advisor
President Ronald Reagan
Adam Brandon
President
FreedomWorks
The Honorable Tony Perkins
President, Family Research Council
President, Council for National Policy
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
The Honorable David McIntosh
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Indiana
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman
Constitutional Congress, Inc.
Michael A. Needham
Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America
The Honorable Donald J. Devine
Former Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
President Ronald Reagan
James C. Dobson Ph.D.
Founder & President
Family Talk
Bob Adams
President
Revive America PAC
Rebecca Hagelin
Secretary
Council for National Policy
Richard H. Wright
CEO
Andrews Consulting
Jack Park
Conservative Activist and Donor
Preston Hawkins
President
Herbert Hawkins Company
Jason S. Jones
President
Movie to Movement
David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Samuel Casey
Managing Director & General Counsel
Jubilee Campaign
Kevin Freeman
Founder
NSIC Institute
Bob Carlstrom
President
The Carlstrom Group, LLC
Tim Wildmon
President
American Family Association
The Honorable Mike Spence
Founding President
Conservative Republicans of California
Martha Boneta
President
VCS
Charles Copeland
President
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Christopher Malagisi
Editor in Chief
Conservative Book Club
Jim Backlin
Vice President of Legislative Affairs
Christian Coalition of America
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Allen Hebert
Chairman
American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association
Ted Baehr
Chairman and CEO
Christian Film and Television Commission™ / Movieguide®
Donna Hearne
CEO
Constitutional Coalition
Linwood Bragan
Executive Director
CapStand Council for Policy & Ethics
Tim LeFever
Chairman
Capitol Resource Institute
Rod D. Martin
Founder and CEO
The Martin Organization, Inc.
Sherri R. Martin
Executive Vice President
The Martin Organization, Inc.
Haley E. Martin
President
The Martin Foundation
Shawn A. Mitchell
Former National Chaplain
National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA)
Jerry Melvin
Former Dean
Florida House of Representatives
Evelio Silvera
Campaign for the American Future
Norman Singleton
President
Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty
Jeremy Cerone
CEO
EliteSafe Inc.
Diane Stover
President
Ohio Values Voters, Inc.
Ron Robinson
President
Young America’s Foundation
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Paul J. Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation
William Pascoe
Managing Partner
Antietam Communications
Robert K. Fischer
Meeting Coordinator
Conservatives of Faith
The Honorable Mike Hill
Former Member
Florida State Representative
Willes K. Lee
President
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Col. Francis X. De Luca USMCR(Ret)
President Emeritus
Civitas Institute
The Honorable James C. Miller III
Budget Director for President Reagan
Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
The Conservative Cacus
Sal Russo
Co-Founder and Chief Strategist
Tea Party Express
Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D.
Washington Bureau Chief
Infowars.com
Caroline Lewis
Owner
Percipio Communications
The Honorable Belden Bell
Legacy Co-Chair
The Heritage Foundation
Steve Berger
Pastor
Grace Chapel
Kay R. Daly
President
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
Chad Connelly
President
Faith Wins
Anne Schlafly Cori
Chairman
Eagle Forum
Dr. Richard Rounsavelle
Trustee
Media Research Center
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Ralph A. Rebandt, II
Lead Pastor/Police Chaplain
Oakland Hills Community Church/Michigan Police Chiefs
The Honorable Michael R. Long
State Chairman
NYS Conservative Party
E.C. Sykes
Managing Director
Aslan Capital Fund
Lewis K. Uhler
President
National Tax Limitation Committee