In the interest of providing much-needed aid to Ukraine, avoiding a government shutdown, and sending as much pork home to their home districts as possible, members of Congress acted on a bipartisan basis this month and passed an omnibus spending bill six months into the fiscal year.

As badly as they behaved in doing this, they at least had the good sense to purge from this 2,700-page monstrosity President Joe Biden’s request for $22.5 billion (later $15.6 billion) in additional funds for COVID relief.