Congress to Send Spending Bill to Biden’s Desk

A look at what made the cut.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at a news conference following a Senate vote on government funding Thursday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Good afternoon! Uphill will take a break next week. (Merry Christmas and happy New Year!) But we’ll be back on January 3, when the new Congress kicks off with a vote on the next speaker of the House.

Exploring the Omnibus  

The $1.7 trillion government spending package the House is poised to approve today clocks in at 4,155 pages—and believe it or not, I didn’t actually have time to read the entire bill after it was released earlier this week.

But I dug through some important aspects and a few interesting items that made the cut. We’ll start with one of the primary reasons some Senate Republicans are touting this bill as a win: Ukraine aid.

Slava Ukraini

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Comments (14)
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  1. Rdtomasello51

    Thank you always for the intelligent summaries of the legislation past or pending. My biggest question concerns the Taiwan package, as it seems that the current administration wants to walk this fine line of helping Taiwan without extending too far to alienate the CCP. Not sure how long they can continue to follow this rather precarious path. Have a enjoyable week off Haley with your family and do appreciate the hard work you put into this newsletter.

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    Dave the Liberty Barfly

    Great summary of the “omnibus”, especially about the oversight/accountability of the Ukraine aid. I literally was reading that when they showed a clip of Josh Hawley (dishonestly) saying that it was a “$100B blank check with zero accountability”.

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  3. James Hynes

    In your “Of Note” section please let us know which items are paywalled. But, perhaps it is your intention to force us to find out on our own by clicking the item as a nod to those paywalled sources? If the latter is the case I believe your paid subscribers should be informed of that strategy.

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    1. Raincheck

      I assume, as Dispatchers, they have access to a lot of services and don’t pay attention to which are firewalled. I doubt your dark suggestion of intent is true.

      Your suggestion is a good one, I find clicking through to pay walled articles annoying myself.

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    Dave Conant - MO

    Good wrap to the year. Enjoy your week off and have a warm, happy new year.

    Republicans are mentioned as taking some aspects of support for Ukraine in the Omnibus as a partisan victory. Both parties should be reminded that they aren't elected to be victorious for themselves or their parties but for the country as a whole. Failure to remember that is the primary reason for our divisions.

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    Kbroot

    As always, helping me better understand our legislative branch. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday!

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  6. Kevin Hunter

    Thank you for the great set of updates. Mostly seems like encouraging progress, and what a marvelous gift that is. Have a wonderful holiday!

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    JohnM.

    Thanks for all of your time and effort in producing Uphill, Haley. It's become one of my favorite TD newsletters. May you and your family have a joyous, peaceful and restful Christmas.

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  8. Natty Bumpo

    Thanks for this update Haley. I appreciated the general review of the contents of this bill and the information on earmarks.

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  9. Learnin4life

    I'll be the first to admit my government process chops are a little rusty, but aren't the portions of the omnibus a lengthy wish list of wants until a subsequent agreement is reached on appropriating the funding? In other words, there's still some haggling to complete until many of the items being enumerated in the bill become real.

    Great work Haley! Your contributions to TD have been outstanding. Enjoy the holidays.

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    Victor Clairmont

    Merry Pre-Christmas!

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