“The omnibus bill will funnel MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to LGBT groups peddling radical gender ideology—many of those [dollars] will go to orgs that target YOUTH,” Roy wrote in one tweet.
Included among the bill’s earmarks are $856,000 for the facilities and equipment at a New York LGBT Center; $105,000 for an LBTQ youth mentoring program at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh; $1.2 million for “centers to support LGBT students” in California’s San Diego Community College District; $500,000 for Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth, Inc.; and $750,000 for In Our Own Voices, Inc., a New York-based organization that seeks to “strengthen the voices” of LGBT people of color and help them combat “oppression and marginalization.”
The bill also includes extensive funding for climate and equity initiatives, including Hawaii’s Zero Emission Bus Program, Sacramento’s “Neighborhood Equity Initiative,” a “community-driven air quality and environmental justice assessment” at the University of Illinois, and numerous climate and social justice programs at other universities.
A Party Divided
The sweeping package—which includes $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary programs, $858 billion in defense funding, and $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies—has been touted as a legislative win by both Democrats and Republicans.While discussing the bill on Dec. 14, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) noted, “nobody is going to get everything they want, but the final product will include wins everyone can get behind.”
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—who stated that same day that Republicans “were not going to lavish extra-liberal spending” on non-defense programs—has celebrated the bill’s increase in defense spending as a victory for the GOP.
“President Biden wanted to cut defense spending and grow liberal domestic spending in real dollars,” McConnell noted in a Dec. 19 statement. “But Congress is rejecting the Biden Administration’s vision and doing the exact opposite. This bill will grow defense spending and cut non-defense, non-veterans spending after inflation.”
However, McConnell’s fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, has decried the bill’s proposed $1.1 trillion increase in the national debt as its own form of national security threat.
Further describing the bill as an “abomination,” Paul added that the American people were “sick and tired” of Congress’ wasteful spending.
“[W]e are obliged to inform you that if any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for this bill—including the Republican leader,” they wrote Monday.
Although he did not sign the letter, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also supported the move, stating, “[W]hen I’m Speaker, their bills will be dead on arrival in the House if this nearly $2 [trillion] monstrosity is allowed to move forward over our objections and the will of the American people.”
With the Senate’s approval, the bill will now advance to the House, where it is expected to pass, before moving to the president’s desk for signing.
To avoid a partial government shutdown, the bill must be signed by Dec. 23.
The Epoch Times has reached out to McConnell for comment.
