Democrats Introduce 1,924-Page, $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill 2.5 Weeks Before Lame Duck Session Ends

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
(CNSNews.com) – Senate Democrats today introduced a 1,924-page omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2011, forgoing a planned continuing resolution to fund the federal government until the next Congress could take up the issue after Jan. 3.
The massive bill, the FY2011 Omnibus Appropriations Act, includes funding for the new health care law backed by the Obama administration, an increased number of I.R.S. agents, and an unknown number of earmarks.
The Senate had been scheduled to adjourn on Dec. 17, meaning that unless Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) elects to extend the current session, which he has hinted at doing, the bill theoretically would be voted on in less than three days. Reid has said that Congress could return right after Christmas to finish up legislative business.
The current continuing resolution to keep the government running expires on Dec. 18, meaning that unless new funding is approved--either with another continuing resolution or the omnibus bill--the federal government will be forced to shut down.
The omnibus spending bill is reported to cost $1.1 trillion, according to The Hill.
Republican Policy Committee chief Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said that the attempt to pass the omnibus spending bill ignored the will of the American people.
“The attempt by Democrat leadership to rush through a nearly 2,000-page spending bill in the final days of the lame-duck session ignores the clear will expressed by the voters this past election,” Thune said in a statement. “This bill is loaded up with pork projects and should not get a vote. Congress should listen to the American people and stop this reckless spending.”
The lame duck session of Congress ends on Jan. 3, 2011. The next Congress officially begins later that same day. In that Congress, the division in the House of Representatives is 242 Republicans and 193 Democrats; and in the Senate, 47 Republicans and 53 Democrats.




