After threatening to veto a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill before a midnight government shutdown deadline Friday morning, President Donald Trump ultimately signed the measure, citing national security concerns. “We need to take care of our military,” Trump said. Republicans praised the bill’s long-sought $80 billion boost in defense funding, adding up to $629 billion. The bill also included a $63 billion increase in domestic non-defense
After threatening to veto a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill before a midnight government shutdown deadline Friday morning, President Donald Trump ultimately signed the measure, citing national security concerns.
“We need to take care of our military,” Trump said. Republicans praised the bill’s long-sought $80 billion boost in defense funding, adding up to $629 billion. The bill also included a $63 billion increase in domestic non-defense spending, pleasing Democrats.
But Trump decried the “ridiculous situation that took place this week,” referring to the drafting of the 2,232-page omnibus, which was passed hours after being first released. Most members of Congress did not have enough time to read the bill, ticking off conservative Republicans and Trump alike.
“They get together and they create a series of documents that nobody has been able to read because it was just done. You tell me who can read that quickly. It takes a long time to read it,” said Trump.
More frustrating, the president claimed, was the bill’s failure to address protections for unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children in exchange for border security funding, a deal that fell apart during the omnibus negotiations. The package did provide $1.6 billion for border security funding, with only $641 million of that amount paying for fencing along the border — far short of the $25 billion Trump wanted.
“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,” Trump tweeted Friday morning, after the bill passed the Senate in the wee hours.
He pledged he would “never sign another bill like this again.” The president also called for Republicans in the Senate to nuke the filibuster, a procedural hurdle that requires 60 votes for most legislation to pass. Republicans have only a 51-member majority in that chamber, requiring Democratic support for bills like the omnibus. Libertarian Republican Thomas Massie called the filibuster complaint a “cop-out,” arguing that getting rid of the requirement would lead to more spending and regulations.
And a Republican Senate aide told THE WEEKLY STANDARD afterward that the filibuster “has nothing to do with this.”
“In fact, the filibuster is even more important now that the president’s gutter approval rating is threatening our majorities,” he added.
