House Republicans this year are eager to ditch the “omnibus,” the giant spending package encompassing most or all of the dozen appropriations measures that have funded the federal government in recent years, and instead want to try several smaller “minibuses” this time around to placate conservatives.
“There’s a realization within the conference that an omnibus is likely out of the question,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said following a closed-door meeting with GOP lawmakers over spending. “So the idea is to try to do a few minibuses that are bite-sized appropriations that we can digest and look at.”
Congress has struggled for decades to individually pass and get signed into law the 12 appropriations bills that fund the federal government, something that hasn’t happened since 1994.
Since then, Congress has tended to pass spending bills in big packages negotiated with the White House that pass quickly and at the last minute, without adequate scrutiny and often stuffed with provisions and extra goodies that ran up government spending and add to the deficit.
Last year, lawmakers negotiated a $1.15 trillion omnibus spending package on a Wednesday in December, and voted to pass the 2,009-page bill two days later.
While the Republican majority in the House was striving to avoid a politically dangerous government shutdown, the size and scope of the deal was so unpopular with constituents, particularly in conservative districts, many GOP lawmakers swore they’d never pass one again.
“There was a lot of blowback from constituents over the omnibus,” Dan Holler, spokesman for Heritage Action for America, a conservative advocacy group. “Members heard about it all winter and spring and into the summer.”
Rogers, the appropriations chairman, said he is happy to pass smaller packages.
“This time, an omnibus is a very unpopular word,” Rogers said. “That’s not necessarily been the case in the past.”
Work on minibus legislation may not start until the lame-duck session that typically convenes following the November election and lasts through December. Congress is expected in the coming weeks to pass a stopgap funding bill that would last from Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, until December 9.
House Republican lawmakers said after Friday’s meeting they were pleased with the proposal to pass smaller bills.
“That’s a lot better way to appropriate than one large spending bill,” said Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.
Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, has long opposed omnibus spending. He said the minibus route is preferable, but might not end up being any more fiscally responsible than passing one big spending package if it doesn’t allow time for adequate scrutiny.
“If you churn out four minibuses of three bills each over a few days and quickly pass them, well, that isn’t too much different than an omnibus,” Ellis said. “I think the attraction of the minibus is that it isn’t called an omnibus. The omnibus term has been tarnished.”
