Conservatives Fuming After House Passes $1.2 Trillion Spending Bill

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), joined by fellow Republicans, speaks on former President Donald Trump's involvement with Jan. 6 during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 6, 2024. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Republicans are railing against the $1.2 trillion spending package to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year after it passed through the House on March 22.

The bill passed 286–134, with 112 Republicans and 23 Democrats against it and another 101 Republicans voting for it.

GOP support for the bill drew ire from Republicans in both the House and Senate within minutes of the House passing the funding package.

“Take note of the [Republicans] who vote for this spending bill and get them out of Washington,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“If we don’t take a stand, we will lose this country. You are seeing the beginning of the end for the United States of America,” the congressman added.

Mr. Burchett explained why he voted against the bill in another post on X following the vote.

“I voted against spending $1.2 trillion, including [a] $27 billion increase for the Pentagon, $880 million for Middle Eastern countries’ borders [but not our own!], and $300 million more for Ukraine,” he said.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who signaled he would vote “no” before the floor debate, also went to X after the vote to criticize the funding package.

“Today, I voted emphatically against yet another trillion-dollar spending package. I would rather die on the field politically than continue to surrender to America’s defeat and demise,” Mr. Gaetz said in the post.

“Surrendering is precisely what this omnibus does: it surrenders on the border, on the budget, and on the bureaucrats that are choking out the economic freedom of our citizens.

“I will continue to vote against these packages, speak out against them, debate against them, and do everything I can to encourage my colleagues to join me,” he added.

Mr. Gaetz was not the only Floridian to criticize the funding package on March 22, as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also signaled he would vote against it once it reached the Senate later in the day.

“With inflation raging, Washington politicians are wasting your tax dollars on 8,000-plus pork barrel ‘earmarks’ projects in the two spending bills,” Mr. Scott said in a post on X right after the funding package passed through the House.

He called out some of the funding projects under the bill, including “$487,000 for a museum renovation, $500,000 for opera house upgrades, [and] $1 million for a social justice center.”

“It’s crazy! STOP THE EARMARKS,” Mr. Scott added.

However, the Republican who possibly went the farthest in condemning the bill was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who moved to oust House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) for his role in negotiating the funding package.

She filed a motion to vacate the Speaker on March 22 as House members voted on the package.

“This is a betrayal of the American people. This is a betrayal of the Republican voters,” the congresswoman told reporters outside of the Capitol following the vote.

Ms. Greene clarified why she filed the motion to vacate in a post on X following the House vote.

“The ‘Republican-controlled’ House just passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill that doesn’t secure our border but funds full-term abortion and trans ideology on our youth. I filed a Motion to Vacate because the House needs a Speaker who’s able to win for Republicans and our constituents,” she said.

Before the vote, Ms. Greene spoke on the House floor and said she was rising in “extreme opposition” to the funding package.

“No Republican in the House of Representatives [in] good conscience can vote for this bill,” she said.

“It is a complete departure of [sic] all of our principles.”

Samantha Flom contributed to this report.