The House, no doubt with visions of sugar plums and a couple of weeks off dancing in their heads, easily passed the omnibus spending bill Friday morning, 316-133. Despite warnings from both party leaders that they weren't sure they would have to votes to put it over the top, 150 Republicans and 166 Democrats voted for it.
Conservatives grumbled that Republicans did not extract enough policy wins for the amount of money they planned to spend; progressives expressed frustration that their leaders and the White House were willing to swallow a bill that lifted the decades-long band on crude oil exports and provided no bankruptcy relief for Puerto Rico, which is in deep in a fiscal crisis.
Democratic leaders did not formally whip in favor of the legislation, arguing it was Republicans’ bill and thus the GOP’s responsibility to get it over the finish line.
However, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her top lieutenants sensed Thursday there could be major trouble if Democrats did not come together to help Republicans make their numbers, and went into overdrive to explain to members the consequences of rebuffing the measure.
They hammered down the message that while the oil exports policy rider and lack of financial reinforcement for Puerto Rico were deeply troubling, Democrats should not lose sight of the reality that Republicans in many ways lost at the negotiating table: There were dozens of policy riders Democrats deemed "poison pills" which would also not have survived a Senate filibuster or withstood the president's signature.
Consideration of the bill is now underway in the Senate, where conservatives are also grumbling about how much they gave away. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz continued his campaign against Mitch McConnell and "establishment" Republicans, saying "Republican leadership has proven to be the most Democratic leaders we have ever seen. […] [This] does not honor the promises we made to the men and women who elected us."
Cruz's fellow Republican presidential candidate, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, will also oppose the bill, though he says he won't try to slow it down. How noble of him. Of course, like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio found out Thursday, it's too late to slow it down. The time agreement is locked in and they can't really do much about it.