UPDATE: A $1.7 trillion spending bill financing federal agencies through September and providing more aid to a devastated Ukraine passed the House on Friday with a 225-201-1 vote.
Passage of the bill represents a closing act for Rep. Nancy Pelosi's second stint as House speaker, and for the Democratic majority she led back to power in the 2018 election. Republicans will take control of the House next year and Rep. Kevin McCarthy is campaigning to replace her.
Friday afternoon, McCarthy's office issued the following statement on the passage of the spending bill:
"The passage of this omnibus strikes a new low point in an already shameful 117th Congress. Aside from the trillions of dollars in spending that we do not have, the process by which this bill was considered is the culmination of a broken institution led by one-party Democrat rule. For the first time in history, a bill in the House was passed without a physical quorum present – meaning more people voted from home than in the House Chamber. 226 Members of the House voted by proxy rather than show up to vote in person. Not only will the contents of this bill damage our country, but the fact that it was allowed to pass with blatant disregard to Article I, Section 5 of our Constitution will forever stain this body.
"In just eleven days, the new House Republican majority will change the direction of our country. We will fight to pull back as many devastating provisions as possible, not only in this bill but in many other previous laws that passed in this Congress. And we will also return this House back to a functioning constitutional body by repealing proxy voting once and for all, while pursuing legitimate challenges to the legality in which the Democrat Congress distorted the business and institutional precedents of the House."
Friday morning Rep. Kevin McCarthy spoke with a raised voice for about 25 minutes, assailing the $1.7 trillion spending bill, which finances federal agencies through September. He railed against the bill for spending too much and doing too little to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border.
“This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I've ever seen in this body," McCarthy said of the legislation.
Republicans will take control of the House next year and McCarthy is campaigning to replace her. He is appealing for support from staunch conservatives in his caucus who have largely trashed the size of the bill and many of the priorities it contains.
In addition, McCarthy's office issued the following statement Friday morning: "American families are dealing with historic inflation they haven’t experienced in decades. The border crisis continues to get worse, allowing cartels to push deadly fentanyl into communities nationwide. Yet, this Congress is about to greenlight a $2 trillion bill filled with progressive priorities that will also undoubtedly make every domestic crisis worse."
The speech prompted a quick quip from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who said “after listening to that, it's clear he doesn't have the votes yet," a reference to McCarthy's campaign to become speaker.
Current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “we have a big bill here because we had big needs for the country," then turned her focus to McCarthy:
“It was sad to hear the minority leader say that this legislation is the most shameful thing to be seen on the House floor in this Congress," Pelosi said. “I can't help but wonder, had he forgotten January 6th?”
The Senate passed the defense-heavy measure with significant bipartisan support on Thursday, but the vote will surely be more split in the House. Some 30 GOP lawmakers promised to block any legislative priority that comes from those Republican senators who voted for the bill and the leadership has urged a no vote.
WATCH HIS FULL SPEECH BELOW:
Kevin McCarthy gives speech regarding government funding bill
You can read his remarks are prepared below:
"We are two days away from Christmas.
"The Christmas Season is the season of giving.
"But in Congress, it appears the season of giving will line the pockets of Democrat special interests and stick hard-working Americans with the tab.
"That’s what this omnibus does.
"Guess how many pages it is? 4,155 of pet projects, pork, and progressive priorities.
"Guess how much it costs? $2 trillion that we don’t have.
"Guess who wrote it? Two retiring Senators who won’t face accountability from voters again.
"Guess when it was made public? In the dead of night – at 2 am on the Tuesday before Christmas.
"This monstrosity is one of the most shameful acts I have ever seen in this body.
"The country is tired of it.
"How do I know? They told us last month.
"They chose a new direction for our country by electing a House Republican majority for the 118th Congress, which begins in 11 days.
"11 days!
"This current debate isn’t just about bad policy – it’s a slap in the face to every American that voted. If you want to talk about threats to democracy – look no further than to what’s happening on this floor today.
"Which raises the question: What – exactly – are we voting on?
"I guarantee not a single member that will vote 'yes' can tell you everything that is in it because no one has had time to read it.
"Democrats and some Senate Republicans hope you won’t notice what’s in the bill – but we won’t let them rob our future with no transparency, no accountability, and no restraint.
"Here are some of the worst parts of this omnibus:
"First – to state the obvious, the omnibus spends too much, increasing the deficit and fueling even more inflation.
"This bill increases baseline spending by $134 billion.
"Put another way, it adds another $1.5 trillion over ten years to the national debt at a time when we are already drowning in $31 trillion in debt.
"And what kind of projects are such high priorities that we just have to increase spending by so much? Left-wing pet projects.
"Americans are struggling under the weight of inflation caused by Democrats’ reckless spending. But Democrats want to add more debt and inflict more economic pain against you and your family.
"Our economy is already in a dire condition, and passing this omnibus supercharges that disaster.
"Inflation is higher today than it was 11 months ago when President Biden said it had 'peaked'. Families are paying almost $400 more per month than a year ago.
"Last month, our deficit was nearly $250 billion, a record for the month of November. This was fueled by a 55 percent increase in our interest payments.
"Meanwhile, personal credit card debt exploded by almost $40 billion in Q3, a record for Q3.
"Inflation is the economy’s number one problem. The Federal Reserve gets it, which is why it is raising rates.
"But Democrats still don’t, and this bill will only put more pressure on the Fed and working families.
"Americans have had enough. That’s why millions voted last month to end Democrats’ one-party rule, retire Speaker Pelosi, and usher in a new House Republican majority that won’t waste your hard-earned tax dollars or pass massive government spending bills that cause more inflation and contribute to higher prices.
"Second – the omnibus spending bill intensifies the crisis at our Southern border.
"Since taking office, President Biden’s open border policies have caused the worst border crisis in American history.
"On this administration’s watch, record numbers of illegal border crossings, deadly drugs, and even terrorism suspects have come into our country.
"Enough fentanyl has crossed the southern border to kill every American 10 times over. This is a weapon of mass destruction that Mexican drug cartels are smuggling into our country.
"The fentanyl crisis has turned every community in America into a border community. As families gather for the holidays – the pain and suffering they will face from their children or loved ones who have lost their lives to fentanyl will be seared into the holiday celebration forever.
"This is the heartbreaking reality of Biden’s open border crisis.
"And what does this bill do about it? Nothing.
"This bill fails to fund border security measures, which have been erased by the Biden administration.
"It includes hundreds of millions of dollars to somehow 'manage' the crisis Biden created by choice, but reduces funds that would actually secure the border.
"For example, this bill provides for more migrant shelter services and reduces the number of ICE detention beds. This facilitates the eventual release of even more migrants all across the country.
"Meanwhile, this disastrous bill reduces funding for border technology that would prevent more illegal crossings in the first place.
"This bill funds 300 additional Border Patrol agents when there are well over 3,000 illegal border crossings every single day – just in El Paso.
"But the worst part might be that this bill sets aside $410 million for border security in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Oman. Radical Democrats will fund walls and technology to protect the Middle East but not McAllen, Texas.
"It’s a disgrace.
"If this lame-duck, America Last monstrosity is allowed to pass, the Biden border crisis will get so much worse.
"Third – this omnibus would continue to fully fund the IRS – including the 87,000 new agents – and does nothing to protect you, your family, or your business from being targeted by the government.
"Remember, earlier this year the Democrats funded 87,000 new IRS agents and approved $85 billion to spy on Americans spending $600 or more.
"After all we have seen from the Twitter Files — the collusion between Big Tech, the FBI, and the Intelligence Community – it’s clear that instead of focusing on actual threats to our country and people – they colluded with private companies – by way of personnel and direct payments – to shut down speech.
"Not only is that wrong – it is illegal.
"It is time Congress conducted real oversight and accountability. In 11 days, House Republicans will begin to do just that by using the power of the purse and the power of the subpoena.
"But this bill would give the Biden administration a free pass.
"This bill provides the FBI with $375 million for a new headquarters and over $11 billion in funding.
"Why would Congress reward the FBI, despite its appalling attack on our freedom of speech?
"Fourth – Buried in the omnibus is even more money for woke-ism in the government and military.
"The woke Left wants to further divide Americans against each other based on race, sex, and background.
"They want to teach our kids that America is inherently bad and that you should distrust and hate your fellow Americans.
"This bill does nothing to prevent toxic woke ideology from being taught in our children’s classrooms.
"Worse, this bill funds woke programs throughout the government and around the world, including:
"$8.6 million for 'gender advisor programs' at the Pentagon.
"$200 million for a Gender Equity Fund and gender programs in Pakistan.
"$575 million for 'family planning' in areas where population growth 'threatens biodiversity.'
"$4 million for 'shared equity housing models'
"Half a million dollars for 'antiracist' training from the Equity Institute
"These types of woke handouts should not be funded by taxpayers.
"They go against everything we stand for as Americans.
"Most Americans share Dr. Martin Luther King’s belief that the content of character matters more than the color of your skin.
"For all the reasons I laid out, this $2 trillion, 4,155-page omnibus is a train wreck.
"It is jam-packed with woke-ism, Washington special interest deals, and wasteful spending that will mean more crushing debt for 330 million Americans and generations to come.
"It will make the border worse.
"It will make inflation worse.
"It will make the economy worse.
"It will make the government worse.
"The American people are probably asking themselves, how did we get into this mess?
"I’ll tell you how: Democrats failed to do their job.
"During the last year, Democrats controlled the House, the Senate, and the presidency, and yet they failed to do their most basic task.
"Senate Democrats passed zero appropriations bills out of their committee.
"Senate Democrats passed zero appropriations bills off the floor.
"They didn’t do a damn thing. They went 0 for 12!
"Instead of following the law and funding the government by September 30, they did what they do best – they created a crisis and then didn’t let it go to waste.
"Remember when Speaker Pelosi said about Obamacare, 'you have to pass it to find out what’s in it?'
"This is exactly the same. They waited until the last minute in a lame duck Congress to dump a 4,000-page, $2 trillion bill into the laps of the American people.
"Did we have time to read the bill? No."Did we have time to debate the bill? No."Did we mark up the bill? No.
"But the Senate passed it anyway, and now they are rushing home to leave the American people with the bill.
"Americans are tired of this kind of governing.
"I will make you this promise: this will be the last time Congress disgraces itself like this again.
"In 11 days the new House Republican majority takes over. And in 11 days this same old business as usual approach is over.
"Republicans will do what the Democrats have failed to do: We will pass legislation on time – and we will do it in an open and transparent manner.
"And we won’t even think about a negotiation with the Senate until they do their work.
"The days of negotiating against ourselves are over.
"We are going to reclaim this body’s integrity in service to the American people after this institution covers itself in disgrace one last time under Democrats one-party rule.
"A new direction is coming. In 11 days, Republicans will deliver it.
