It’s a sad state of affairs when the Democrats, who are supposed to be running the show in Congress, can’t even pass basic government spending bills. That’s exactly what happened this year, thanks to the incompetence of the Democrat-led Senate.
As House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, pointed out on Friday, the basic job of Congress is to keep the government operating. But with just days left before Christmas, Congress has been forced to rush through a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill in order to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Hoyer rightly pointed out that this bill should have been passed back in September, when the fiscal year ended. But instead, the Senate, led by Chuck Schumer, failed to pass a single appropriations bill, leaving everything to the last minute.
This is just unacceptable for the 535 members of Congress who have been entrusted with representing the American people in a responsible way. But apparently, the Senate has become “enamored with doing an omnibus at the last second,” according to Hoyer. That’s a disappointment for every member of Congress and every American.
The spending bill that was finally passed on Thursday includes a 10% boost in funding for the Pentagon and $45 billion in aid to Ukraine. It also includes a ban on TikTok on federal government devices. But it’s a shame that it took until the last minute to get this done, and it’s a clear failure on the part of the Democrats to fulfill their basic responsibilities.
Hoyer will be stepping down from his leadership position in the Democratic Party next year, but he will still be serving on the House Appropriations Committee.
Hopefully, he can use that position to push for early passage of spending bills in the future, rather than having to rush through giant bills at the last minute.
It’s time for the Democrats to start doing their jobs and showing some responsibility, instead of leaving everything until the last minute and forcing a Christmas Eve performance of their duties.