Trump Didn’t Love the Omnibus Spending Bill. But Neither Should You.

Many outlets have been calling Donald Trump the “biggest loser” in the FY2018 omnibus spending bill that Congress passed in a rushed and belated fashion on Thursday.

And he certainly has much to be displeased about. Here’s ABC News:

He didn’t get the money he wanted for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico or a provision cutting off federal funds for “sanctuary cities.” Lawmakers not only ignored his fiscal 2018 budget’s elimination of scores of federal programs, they increased spending for many of those on his target list. And Congress provided seed cash for a New York-New Jersey tunnel project that Trump tried to kill.

The list of ways in which Congress rejected Trump’s priorities — save a massive buildup in defense spending — is nearly as long as the 2,232-page bill that policy wonks are still studying.

He did, however, ultimately sign it — despite flirting with a veto.

Republicans who insisted on deep cuts to many programs when there was a Democratic president were more willing to entertain spending increases now that they have full control of government — an expected bit of hypocrisy that Democrats should realize so that they stop bowing to disingenuous deficit-mania.

Many members of Congress issued press releases touting the additional investments in their districts and states. And many of those things were good. But that doesn’t meant that the omnibus bill is some crowning bipartisan achievement.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus highlighted three key flaws:

(1) The omnibus fails to offer a solution for Dreamers, leaving them in a state of limbo. The omnibus bill is a rare opportunity where Democrats can assert leverage, and they chose — again — not to do so.

(2) The omnibus continues to fuel the state of endless and unaccountable war, further bloating the military budget at the expense of the budgets for diplomatic programs.

(3) The process was an embarrassment.

Here’s the Caucus’s full statement:

“The members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have spent years fighting for increases in domestic programs to keep pace with the most basic needs of the American people. While we are pleased this bill represents a massive rejection of President Trump’s budget, it falls short on key progressive issues.

“Once again, Republicans have chosen to prioritize war over diplomacy. President Trump continues to build up his war machine with a record-breaking $695 billion Pentagon budget plus another $65 billion to wage war, while critical diplomatic agencies like the Department of State and USAID remain underfunded. Such careless disregard for America’s diplomatic efforts perpetuates an out-of-control Pentagon budget and endows the executive branch with a virtual blank check to wage shadow wars across the globe that endanger American troops and interests.

“Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration also continued their assault on immigrant communities by once again refusing to protect Dreamers. As Dreamers suffer in a cruel limbo, Republicans are ramping up a deportation machine with more agents and more enforcement that destroys families and tears communities apart.

“We can do better than a 2,000-page bill governing $1.3 trillion in federal spending being circulated to lawmakers the night before a crucial vote. Americans want progressive policies that prioritize a better future for all working families and when Democrats are in control of Congress, we can focus on these priorities.”

The procedural vote to move to voting on the omnibus bill only narrowly passed: 211–207, given 25 Republican defections. Only one Democrat — perennial defector Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09) — voted for it.

The omnibus itself soon after passed 256 to 167. 145 Republicans and 111 Democrats voted for it, and 90 Republicans and 77 Democrats voted against it.

The 77 Democrats who voted against it were mostly in the progressive wing, although some — like Collin Peterson (MN-07) — may have objected to the bill for the deficit reasons that some of the GOP’s most conservative hardliners gave.

Here are the 77:

Later that day — or, more accurately, in the wee hours of Friday morning — the Senate passed the omnibus 65–32.

Most of the Senate NO votes came from the Republican caucus’s hardliners.

The Democratic Caucus’s NO votes came mostly from the party’s progressive wing: Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).