GOP senators slam McConnell, Republican colleagues for supporting omnibus - The Hill

Republican Sens. Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Mike Lee (Utah) slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and their GOP colleagues connected Sunday for supporting the $1.7 trillion omnibus bundle that Congress sent to President Biden’s table connected Friday.

The GOP senators had argued it would person been amended to hold for the GOP to instrumentality power of the House successful January to walk an omnibus bill, arguing this would person fixed Republicans much leverage.

Lee denounced the omnibus arsenic “the ugliest spending measure connected record,” taking purpose astatine McConnell and the party’s Senate enactment successful an interrogation with vigor speech amusement big John Catsimatidis connected Sunday.

“Our enactment enactment turned connected Republican voters, turned connected the Republican base, turned connected astir Republican senators,” Lee said connected “The Cats Roundtable” connected WABC 770 AM. “It has happened before, but this is 1 excessively galore times. For me, this is the last straw.”

“As Republicans scratch their heads implicit their disappointing midterms, they ought to see that voters don’t spot overmuch of a defining quality with Democrats,” helium added.

The Senate easy passed the monolithic spending measure connected Thursday, with 18 Republican senators joining Democrats successful supporting the authorities that volition money the national authorities done adjacent September. The bundle is present headed to Biden for his signature, aft passing the House connected Friday.

Those arguing successful favour of the omnibus said it was a mode to lock-in accrued defence spending for the adjacent year. The measure included $858 cardinal successful defence spending, a 9.7 percent summation implicit the twelvemonth before, portion non-defense spending was accrued astatine a complaint little than inflation.

Johnson, who besides joined Catsimatidis connected Sunday, criticized his chap Republican senators for celebrating the omnibus package’s summation successful defence spending.

“To state that a victory, to accidental that’s a win, that’s similar a shot squad that conscionable mislaid the crippled 60 to 0, and they footwear a tract extremity successful the waning seconds and accidental the tract extremity is simply a large win,” Johnson said. “No, we conscionable got our you-know-whats handed to us.”

The Wisconsin legislator besides took purpose astatine the strategy of moving the omnibus earlier the adjacent Congress, noting that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and different House Republicans had requested that bundle beryllium delayed.

“Unfortunately, the arrogance of our [Senate GOP] enactment who said, ‘We cognize amended than House members. We’re going to walk this.’ … I’m not buying it,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, our supporters aren’t going to bargain it either.”