Congress approves spending bill

This morning at around 5:30 a.m., the House approved a budget deal that will add hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending, not just for the military but also for domestic programs. The vote was 240-186. The Senate had already passed the deal by a vote of 71-28 (John McCain did not vote).

In both chambers, the dissenters were a mix of hard core leftists who objected to not granting amnesty to “Dreamers” and fiscally responsible conservatives who objected the massive increase in domestic spending.

The following Republican Senators voted against the deal, the correct position, in my opinion:

Burr (NC)
Cassidy (LA)
Corker (TN)
Crapo (ID)
Daines (MT)
Enzi (WY)
Flake (AZ)
Grassley (IA)
Johnson (WI)
Kennedy (LA)
Lankford (OK)
Lee (UT)
Paul (KY)
Risch (ID)
Sasse (NE)
Toomey (PA)

They were joined by the following Democrats, a list that includes all of the Senate Dems I believe are seriously interested in running for president next time:

Bennet (CO)
Booker (NJ)
Cantwell (WA)
Feinstein (CA)
Gillibrand (NY)
Harris (CA)
Hirono (HI)
Markey (MA)
Merkely (OR)
Sanders (VT)
Warren (MA)
Wyden (OR)

In the House, Democrats were more inclined to vote against the bill. Only 73 of them broke ranks with their Leader, Nancy Pelosi, to vote in favor. But they provided the votes needed to offset the opposition of 67 Republicans.

The House Dems were playing out a farce. Pelosi’s opposition, complete with “filibuster,” was a stunt. As Ed Morrissey notes, she helped craft the budget deal and praised its substance. She wanted the deal to be approved, but also to grandstand on behalf of the illegal immigrants she helped sell out. Even some members of her caucus were miffed, and I understand that the pro-illegal immigrant lobby is incensed.

The budget deal is a victory for President Trump. He avoids an embarrassing government shutdown and gets plenty of money for the military. The sharp rise in domestic spending won’t concern him because he has never been fiscally conservative.

That’s one reason, though hardly the only one, why conservatives like me wanted a different GOP presidential nominee. Note, however, that Trump’s two main conservative opponents during the primary season — Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio — voted for the spending deal.

More evidence, as if any were needed, that politics makes strange bedfellows.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses