The path of the thickest bill in U.S. history of more than 5,000 pages is full of multiple possibilities. Because the 116th Congress immediately adjourns and will expire on January 3, 2021, the timing objectively looks favorable for President Trump (Trump).
President Trump said in a video made public on December 22 that he would veto the $2.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act (COVID-19 relief bill and stimulus and spending bill) because the bill does not have much content related to epidemic relief, while Trump asked Congress to cut certain improper Trump asked Congress to cut certain inappropriate spending and increase the amount of economic assistance going directly to the general public.
Trump said the bill that Congress is sending back to the White House desk is now very different from what was expected.
“Congress has found a lot of money for foreign countries, lobbyists and special interests, while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it,” He said.
Because the bill is too thick, the printers are too busy
Bipartisan negotiations on a new round of relief bills began months ago in Congress, but progress on the relief bills has stalled several times because of deep differences between the two sides over the size of the funding and the scope of its use.
Congressional leaders of both parties finally reached a final agreement on the bill on the evening of December 20 amid complaints; in order to pass the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill and the $1.4 trillion stimulus and spending bill (Omnibus spending bill) more quickly, Congress used H.R. 133 (formerly the U.S.-Mexico Economic Partnership Act) as a model legislation to bundle other elements on top of the existing bill to deliver the Consolidated Appropriations Act.
With 5,593 pages, the thickest bill in history, and 535 members of Congress, the sheer volume of printing posed a real binding and logistical challenge, and with printer failures and corrupted computer files, the legislation was finally rushed to members only hours before the vote in both chambers.
Some members of both parties expressed dissatisfaction that the four leaders had introduced such a large bill without giving enough time for members to read its contents. For those who voted first, it is unrealistic to have to read more than 1,000 pages per hour and 17 pages per minute to finish reading the bill.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Calif.), a representative of the Democratic left, criticized the lack of time to review the large bill before voting on it.
Republican Sen. Tom Cruz (R-Texas) also said it was ridiculous for bipartisan leaders to secretly negotiate a nearly $2.3 trillion spending bill and then ask for a few hours for Congress to vote on a bill that it simply did not have time to read.
Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, also said lawmakers were also told not to amend or improve the contents of the bill.
“This legislative process that requires members of Congress to blindly defer to four colleagues and negotiate in complete secrecy must end.” He called on his colleagues in the House and Senate not to vote on such bills that have not even been read and are set up with large budget amounts.
A video put out by Senator Lee shows that it would take the printer three minutes to print just 100 pages. Meaning it would take the printer close to 3 hours just to print all 5,000+ pages of the bill.
Nevertheless, on the evening of December 21, both houses of Congress voted on the bill, and both passed it with a majority of more than two-thirds. On the same day, President Trump also signed a one-week temporary spending bill to avoid a congressional shutdown, allowing Congress to operate until Dec. 28.
What does the thickest bill ever contain?
This omnibus bill is the thickest in U.S. history and the largest relief package to date (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021).
But the contents of the bill did not come to the attention of the public until President Trump released a video on the 22nd.
Trump said the bill contains many wasteful items, to the general taxpayers also only provided $ 600 per person relief, but also did not give small businesses enough relief money and preferential policies; especially restaurants, they suffered heavy losses.
According to the content of the bill, the total amount directly sent to the common people is $166 billion, which is about 7% of the total.
On the other hand, other expenditures, called authorized matters, take up the largest part of the bill, 3,000 pages. These miscellaneous items include grants to history museums, art galleries, etc., grants to foreign countries on human rights policies, and grants on energy and environmental provisions.
According to the bill, some of the foreign aid is listed: $85.5 million for Cambodia, $134 million allocated to Burma, $1.3 billion to Egypt and the Egyptian military, $25 million for democracy and gender projects in Pakistan, and $505 million for Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
For the domestic component, program expenditures included $40 million for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., $1 billion for the Smithsonian, and another $154 million for the National Gallery of Art. However, these venues were largely closed to the public during the epidemic.
In addition, there are a number of appropriation programs for fisheries.
Trump said the bill also allows cash assistance for family members of illegal immigrants, allowing illegal immigrant families to receive up to $1,800 each.
“That’s far more than Americans get.” He said, “I’m asking Congress to amend the bill to raise the ridiculously low $600 relief to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple.”
Bipartisan backtracking on foreign aid exclusion stalls bill
In the wake of President Trump’s statement, members of the House of Representatives from both parties proposed new proposals on the 24th, but the two sides did not give in to each other on the removal of foreign aid, the Democrats only want to simply raise the $600 relief to the people to $2,000, while the Republicans want to remove foreign aid, they blocked each other’s “no objection” request, making the bill deadlocked.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on the 24th that she would call a new vote by House members next Monday to pass a separate bill to raise the COVID-19 stimulus payment to $2,000.
The future of the bill is full of possibilities
The future course of the bill is full of possibilities. Because Congress is immediately in recess, the timing may be favorable to Trump.
After President Trump rejects the bill, which was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers of Congress, Congress may have two options: 1. Allow the House and Senate to vote to override President Trump’s veto before the bill expires, allowing the bill to automatically become law. 2. Maintain the President’s veto, despite the fact that many lawmakers previously favored the bill, after the President’s veto, if enough Republican lawmakers next vote against the bill, the bill would be repealed. This is highly likely.
However, if a new bipartisan bill cannot be agreed to next, the president has 10 business days from receipt of the bill in Congress to agree or veto it, but if the president neither formally signs nor formally vetoes it, this situation is called a “pocket veto.
This situation will be somewhat complicated by the fact that Congress immediately adjourns.
In 10 days, the current 116th Congress will expire on January 3, and the new 117th Congress will be sworn in next. If the 116th Congress fails to pass the bill they enacted during their term, the bill will automatically be aborted.
Because the temporary congressional spending bill passed by President Trump ends at midnight on December 28, if the controversy over the latest $2.3 trillion omnibus bill is still not resolved by then, Congress must pass another temporary spending bill, or it will shut down starting December 29.
In such a scenario, tens of thousands of government workers could be furloughed and the bill process would be interrupted.
If the bill ultimately fails to pass Congress, the puzzle will be left to the next president and the next members of Congress. According to the process, the next president will be sworn in on Jan. 20. The presidential controversy between President Trump and former Vice President Biden is not over due to various fraud and irregularities in the 2020 presidential election process.
Whichever of them eventually wins the election will face this dilemma.
Biden said in his 2020 year-end speech in Delaware on Dec. 22 that the latest round of economic relief is just a “down payment”; he hopes the next relief package will include more economic stimulus, more aid to states and localities, and direct money to businesses and infrastructure investments to restart the economy.
Trump also said in a video speech released on the same day: “I also ask Congress to immediately remove the wasteful and unnecessary items in the bill and send me a suitable bill, or the next administration will have to give a new crown viral relief program, maybe that administration is me, and we will finish it.”
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