A Monster Spending Bill Is Defeated After Public Protests

The latest episode of Government Shutdown Theater did not go according to the usual script.

In case you missed it, this episode was scheduled for the end of the 118th Congress, which runs until January 3, 2025. That’s the date when the winners of the November 2024 elections will be sworn in as the 119th Congress. However, because of the holidays, the 118th Congress’ last day of official business was set for Friday, December 20, 2024, after which most politicians planned to get out of Washington, D.C.

They had one big bit of business to address before they could depart. Because they played too much politics during the year, the U.S. government was once again at risk of shutting down because Congress hadn’t appropriated enough money to keep the government running after December 20 in their previous episode of Government Shutdown Theater.

But the politicians running the 118th Congress weren’t about to leave town without playing their greedy political game one last time. They planned to exploit the need to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government’s operations to lard it up. The monster “must-pass” spending bill they created ran 1,547 pages, chock full of pork, waste, and other spending to benefit their personal interests on top of the spending needed to simply avert a government shutdown. None of which would ever pass on its own merits, unlike spending for hurricane disaster relief, which was included in the monster bill to make it more compelling.

Among the most grievous examples of politicians looking out for their own personal interests rather than the people’s was their attempt to give themselves automatic raises. They also wanted to exempt themselves from having to get Affordable Care Act health insurance so they could get the better insurance coverage that federal workers get.

The public protests the politicians’ business as usual

As usual, these examples of political business got many members of Congress in trouble with the voters of their districts and states. Their preferred status quo isn’t cutting it with voters, who took to social media to vent their frustration. The public’s reaction against their display of fiscal recklessness was overwhelming. Support in Congress for the 1,547-page monstrosity evaporated, and the spending bill failed on December 19.

Cutting to the chase, there was more back-and-forth as congressional leaders tried to pass a more focused spending bill, which failed as well. On December 20, they tried again with a third bill that finally passed. Here’s an X/twitter post showing the visual difference between the first and third spending bills:

#BREAKING: The third spending bill has PASSED the House of Representatives, with Democrat support

A government shutdown has been avoided.

This bill was 118 pages. Down from over 1,500 pages.

may have cut the pork out of this bill, but now we must get to work cutting the… pic.twitter.com/kwNmjKVmGk

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 20, 2024

The final bill signed into law on Saturday, December 21, is an improvement over the congressional leaders’ original plan. Yet the experience of getting there reveals the challenges that lie ahead for advocates of fiscal sustainability.

The worst part is Congress’ leaders didn’t learn to stop playing the Government Shutdown Theater game with the public. The next performance is scheduled for its cliffhanger on March 14, 2025