Originally Authored at TheFederalist.com
Congress’s latest spending scam is not receiving the glowing reviews weak-kneed Speaker Mike Johnson was hoping for.
On Tuesday evening, congressional leaders released the text of a 1,547-page omnibus package designed to fund the federal government through March 2025. Like those that have come before it, the bill is stacked with pork provisions championed by the D.C. establishment and loathed by everyday Americans.
Among the worst included in the end-of-year spending spree are provisions extending the State Department’s censorship-loving Global Engagement Center, opening the door for congressional members to receive a pay raise, and allowing members of Congress to opt out of Obamacare.
With government funding set to expire on Friday, the last-minute release of the bill and its contents have drawn criticisms from some of conservative politics’ biggest voices.
President-elect Donald Trump came out in opposition to the omnibus spending measure on Wednesday afternoon. The incoming president reportedly told Fox News’ Lawrence Jones he is “totally against” the bill, and as noted by Jones, “believes that the ‘fight starts now,’ rather than waiting until he is sworn in.”
X owner Elon Musk issued numerous tweets blasting the omnibus. In a tweet quoting Vivek Ramaswamy — who will lead the incoming Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency alongside Musk — the SpaceX founder wrote, “This bill should not pass.”
Ramaswamy also noted his opposition to the measure, writing on X that after speaking with congressional members and reading the legislation, he believes it to be “full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways & pork barrel politics.”
“If Congress wants to get serious about government efficiency, they should VOTE NO,” he wrote.
In agreeing with Ramaswamy’s position, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, encouraged House Republicans to oppose the omnibus and said Congress should “[m]iss Christmas if we must” to pass a more fiscally responsible bill.
“This is what we’ve been warning about. The reason we fought for a 72 hour rule on bills is to expose — with sunlight — these disastrous bills,” Roy said.
Donald Trump Jr. also took to X to voice his displeasure with the bill. The president-elect’s eldest son quoted a tweet from conservative commentator Benny Johnson, who highlighted a portion of the measure he contended “lets Congress block subpoenas for House data, including emails, potentially preventing any investigation into the J6 Committee.”
“So the house is going to vote to protect itself from glaring and obvious wrongdoing?” Trump Jr. wrote. “The American people didn’t vote for this. They voted for the opposite. They voted for transparency. This cannot pass.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., did not mince words when discussing his disdain for the omnibus. The GOP congressman noted that he has “Republican colleagues who’d rather run over their own mom with a car than to vote to cut spending.”
Federalist CEO Sean Davis noted on X that he has “worked in around politics for over 20 years, and what’s happening with this insane omnibus bill is one of the more corrupt exercises [he’s] ever seen.”
“It has everything: censorship-industrial complex resurrection, Big Pharma giveaways, pay raises and Obamacare loopholes for members of Congress, NFL earmarks, you name it,” Davis wrote. “Everyone involved in this process should feel deep shame. But they won’t. That needs to change.”
While commenting on a video of Johnson previously claiming he wouldn’t pass a Christmastime omnibus, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on X, “It’s like deja vu all over again …”
Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., noted on X that the massive spending package is “an easy NO vote.”
“How do you tell your constituents that you want to cut wasteful spending and then vote for $100+ BILLION in unpaid-for spending? Top-tier gaslighting,” Crane wrote.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, similarly blasted GOP congressional leadership for trying to pass the botched bill, writing in a tweet, “Like a dog to its vomit, big-spending Republicans in Congress are returning to what’s familiar & neglecting what’s necessary.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood