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“Rock around the Christmas tree.
At the Christmas party” – Brenda Lee
It’s a Christmas tradition on Capitol Hill.
The annual tradition of rocking around Parliament Christmas Tree Adorned with hundreds of legal ornaments Allocation of Advent and mistletoe adaptations
The political Polar Express gathers in the halls of Congress almost every December. It is always the last piece of legislation to come out of the parliamentary station.
What to expect as the Republic tries to salvage its spending package. Avoiding a government shutdown
“All aboard!” shouted the conductor.
Put your Noel needs into the luggage compartment of this train. Otherwise, the train will be left behind.
So the legislature decorated “Christmas Tree” the only way they know how
That resulted just days ago in a massive 1,547-page temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
The sheer scope of this bill is astounding.
Do you want a hippopotamus for Christmas? You will definitely get it with this plan.
It won’t be long until the House of Representatives crushes this law.
Christmas tree at the U.S. Capitol It was lit during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on December 1. 3. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“It’s another imposition,” fumed Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, the morning after congressional leaders introduced the bill. “This is what you get. ‘Do this or shut down the government,’ so it’s very disappointing.”
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., didn’t gift-wrap his critics.
“It was a dumpster fire. I think it’s trash,” Burlison ordered. “It’s a shame that people are celebrating the arrival of DOGE, but we’ll vote for another billion dollars to increase the deficit. It’s ridiculous.”
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., mocked his colleagues for speaking out of both sides of their mouths when it came to spending.
“We have always said we want to take the deficit and debt seriously. But we still voted to increase it. You can’t have it both ways,” he said. “This is irresponsible.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, lamented that this is business as usual.
“I mean, the swamp is about to flood, right?” offered Roy.
A hitchhiker’s guide to what’s happening with interim spending bills.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the following in the fall:
“We destroyed a Christmas bus. I have no intention of returning to that terrible tradition. There will be no Christmas buses,” Johnson announced on September 24. “We won’t be doing any ‘buses’.”
You literally pressed Johnson on his promises after frustrated Republicans slammed him during the House GOP Conference.
“You said back in September that there would be no more Christmas buses. You don’t make ‘buses’ anymore,” I asked. “But why aren’t there any more Christmas trees these days?”
“It’s not a Christmas tree. Not buses,” Johnson responded.
Johnson was technically right. in allocation parlance It’s not a real bus. Although many outside observers and lawmakers might refer to this massive bill as an “omnibus,” the omnibus is where a gift from Congress would wrap all 12 individual spending measures into a single “omnibus” package. “Minibus” is where a number of bills are gathered together.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke briefly with reporters before the vote on the amended temporary spending bill. to prevent a government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Even so I remind Johnson of the impropriety that this law imposes.
“They call it this litter. They said it was garbage. Those are your members who call it that,” I remarked.
“They haven’t seen it yet,” Johnson said. Even if the charge happened the night before. “I have a few friends who would say that about end-of-year fundraising measures. This is not a bus, okay? This is a small CR (continuous resolution) where we have to add things that are out of our control.”
The bill sets a high price to cover the full cost of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. Radioactive wage increase for lawmakers health care provisions Language about concert ticket prices Emergency assistance to farmers. and $110 billion to help offset damages from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“It was intended to be And until a few days ago A very simple and clean funding measure to stop CR. To bring us into next year. When we have a unity government,” Johnson said. “But there were a couple of intervening events that, as we say, were acts of God. We have these big hurricanes.”
But then Elon Musk set Bill on fire. President Donald Trump has called for an immediate increase in the debt ceiling. Debt-limiting agreements are one of the most complex and contentious issues in Congress. They must spend weeks or months painstakingly negotiating.
House GOP leaders scramble for Plan B after Trump MUSK leads anger over spending bill
This isn’t as easy as presenting Santa’s wish list at the mall on Christmas morning.
The bill began garnering overwhelming support just hours before the House planned a vote.
But to paraphrase Charles Dickens’ first line in “A Christmas Carol” about Jacob Marley, “Bill is dead: to begin with, there can be no doubt about that.”
Democrats were baffled by the last-minute ultimatum. Especially since Johnson attended the Army football game with Trump last week. How can they not talk about the outlines of this bill?
“It was bombarded by Elon Musk, which appears to have become the fourth branch of government,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., joked about the bill. “So who is our leader? Should (House Minority Leader) Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., be negotiating with Mike Johnson? Is he the Speaker of the House? Or Donald Trump or Elon Musk … or someone else?”
Johnson and company have prepared a 116-page bill to support the government. But bipartisan lawmakers roast over an open fire a measure faster than chestnuts.
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, speaks during a town hall event in Pittsburgh 20. (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., mocked Republicans for insisting they follow their internal “three-day rule.” This allows lawmakers to deliberate on bills for three days before a vote. But now Republicans are rushing to complete the new bill faster than buyers rushing home with their treasures.
“Have you already typed it? How many pages are there? What happened to the 72-hour rule?” mocked Moskowitz.
The bill fell to a humiliating defeat in the House of Representatives. It received just 174 yes votes, separated by a striking 38 Republican votes.
“Democrats just voted to shut down the government,” said Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. The vice president-elect made the claim. “They asked to shut down the system. And I think that’s what they’re going to get.”
By Friday, a third bill was in place, and despite complaints, lawmakers finally passed the bill. There’s no need to go to “Plan Z,” made famous in “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.” The House approved the bill on the evening of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the Senate floor. Friday
“Democrats and Republicans just reached an agreement that will allow us to pass CR tonight before the midnight deadline,” Schumer said.
Critics of the third bill may dismiss the whole process as a “railway,” but it is. real Railroads that prevent the Senate from passing bills on time An unnamed Republican senator has withheld a nomination to Amtrak’s board. But when the senators solved that problem The Senate finally worked with the House to prevent a shutdown at approximately 12:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, 45 minutes after the midnight deadline.
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The relief bill covers disaster assistance and emergency assistance for farmers. But when talking about allocation The legislation simply renews all current funding at current levels. It certainly is. no “Christmas Tree” It just keeps the government running until March 14th, so there’s no holiday crisis.
Merry Christmas.
But watch out for the Ides of March.
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