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Let's go to the Christmas party” – Brenda Lee
It's a Christmas tradition on Capitol Hill.
An annual custom of swinging around a Congressional Christmas tree, adorned with hundreds of legislative ornaments, Advent credits and mistletoe modifications.
A political Polar Express travels through the halls of Congress almost every December. It is always the last piece of legislation to come out of the Congressional workstation.
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“All aboard!” shouts the driver.
Load your Christmas needs into this train's baggage car, otherwise they'll be left behind.
So, lawmakers decorated their “Christmas tree” the only way they know how.
This culminated a few days ago in the colossal 1,547-page stopgap spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown.
The sheer scope of the bill was breathtaking.
Do you want a hippopotamus for Christmas? You surely would have gotten it with this plan.
It didn't take long for House Republicans to kill the legislation.
The United States Capitol Christmas tree is lit during a ceremony in Washington, DC, on December 3. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“It’s another cram down,” fumed Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, the morning after congressional leaders released the bill. “Here's what you get. 'Do this or shut down the government.' So it’s very disappointing.”
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., wasn't keen on his criticism.
“It's a real dumpster fire. I think it's garbage,” Burlison said. “It's shameful that people are celebrating the arrival of DOGE, and yet we're going to vote for another billion dollars to be added to the deficit. It's ironic.”
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., mocked his colleagues for speaking out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to spending.
“We continue to say that we want to take the deficit and the debt seriously. But we continue to vote to increase them. You can't have it both ways,” he said. “It’s irresponsible.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, lamented that it was business as usual.
“I mean, the swamp is going to flood, right?” » suggested Roy.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the following in the fall:
“We have broken up the Christmas omnibus. I have no intention of returning to that terrible tradition. There will be no Christmas omnibus,” Johnson said on September 24. “We won’t do a ‘bus’.”
So yours truly pressed Johnson's promise after frustrated Republicans berated him at a House GOP conference meeting.
“You said in September that there would be no more Christmas omnibuses. You weren't doing 'buses' anymore,” I asked. “But how come it’s not yet another Christmas tree during the holidays?”
“Well, it's not a Christmas tree. It's not an omnibus,” Johnson replied.
Johnson is technically right. In appropriations language, it is not a true omnibus — although outside observers and many lawmakers themselves might colloquially refer to this massive bill as an “omnibus.” An omnibus is where Congress consolidates all 12 individual spending measures into one package. A “minibus” is where a handful of bills are bundled together.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks briefly with reporters just before a vote on an amended interim spending bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Even so, I reminded Johnson of the opprobrium this legislation has generated.
“They called it that. They said it was rubbish. It's your own members who call it that,” I remarked.
“Well, they haven’t even seen it yet,” Johnson said, even though the bill materialized the night before. “I have a few friends who will say that about any year-end funding measure. It's not an omnibus, okay? It's a small CR (continuing resolution) that we have had to add things that were out of our control.
The legislation came with a hefty price tag to cover the entire cost of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. A radioactive pay raise for legislators. Health care arrangements. Language on concert ticket prices. Emergency aid to farmers. And $110 billion to help cover the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“This was supposed to be, and was until the last few days, a very simple, very clean interim funding measure for the CR to get us through to next year when we have a unified government,” Johnson said . “But several things happened in between. We had, as they say, force majeure. We had these massive hurricanes.”
But then Elon Musk torched the bill. President-elect Trump has demanded an immediate increase in the debt ceiling. Debt limitation agreements are one of the most complex and controversial issues in Congress. They require weeks, even months, of arduous negotiations.
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It wasn't as simple as presenting Santa at the mall with a Christmas morning wish list.
The bill began losing support just hours before the House was scheduled to vote.
But to paraphrase Charles Dickens' opening line in “A Christmas Carol” about Jacob Marley, “That bill was dead: to begin with. There's no doubt about it.”
Democrats were stunned by the last-minute ultimatums. Especially since Johnson attended the Army-Navy football game last week with Trump. How could they not discuss the contours of this bill?
“It was blown up by Elon Musk, who apparently became the fourth branch of government,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, scoffed at the bill. “So who is our leader, (House Minority Leader) Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., supposed to negotiate with? Is it Mike Johnson? Is he the Speaker of the House? Or is it Donald Trump? Or is it Elon Musk?
Johnson and company then prepared a slim 116-page bill to fund the government. But bipartisan lawmakers roasted the measure faster than chestnuts on an open fire.
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks at a public event in Pittsburgh on October 20. (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida, mocked Republicans for insisting they adhere to their “household three-day rule.” This allows lawmakers to think about bills for three days before voting. Yet Republicans were now rushing toward passage of the new bill faster than shoppers were rushing home with their treasures.
“Did you print it? How many pages is it? What happened to the 72 hour rule?” Moskowitz mocked.
The bill sank to an embarrassing defeat in the House. He got just 174 yes votes, punctuated by a staggering 38 no Republicans.
“The Democrats just voted to shut down the government,” said Senator JD Vance, Republican of Ohio, vice president-elect. “They asked for closure, and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to get.”
On Friday there was a third bill. And despite protests, lawmakers ultimately passed the law. There was no need to go to “Plan Z,” popularized in “The Sponge Bob Movie.” The House approved the bill early this evening. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrived at the Senate floor Friday evening.
“Democrats and Republicans just reached an agreement that will allow us to pass the CR tonight before the midnight deadline,” Schumer said.
Critics of the third bill might characterize the entire process as “railroading.” But it was a real railroad that prevented the Senate from passing the bill on time. An unnamed Republican senator has suspended nominations for Amtrak's board of directors. But once senators resolved that issue, the Senate ultimately aligned with the House to prevent the shutdown around 12:45 a.m. ET Saturday, 45 minutes after the midnight deadline.
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The slimmed-down bill included disaster aid and emergency aid for farmers. But when it comes to appropriations, the legislation simply renewed all current funding at current levels. It was definitely not a “Christmas tree”. This allowed the government to remain in office until March 14. So no holiday crisis.
Merry Christmas.
But watch out for the Ides of March.