“Rockin’ around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop” – Brenda Lee
It’s a yuletide tradition on Capitol Hill.
An annual custom of rockin’ around a congressional Christmas tree, festooned with hundreds of legislative ornaments, Advent appropriations and mistletoe modifications.
A political Polar Express chugs through the halls of Congress nearly every December. It’s always the last piece of legislation huffing out of the congressional station.
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“All aboard!” hollers the conductor.
Get your Noel needs loaded into the baggage car of this train, or it’s going to be left behind.
So, lawmakers decorated their “Christmas tree” in the only way they know how.
That resulted a few days ago in the colossal 1,547-page interim spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
The sheer scope of the bill was breathtaking.
You want a hippopotamus for Christmas? You surely would have gotten it with this plan.
It wasn’t long until House Republicans pulverized the legislation.
The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree is lit during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Dec. 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 the government down.’ So, it’s very disappointing.”
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., didn’t gift wrap his criticism.
“It’s a total dumpster fire. I think it’s garbage,” decreed Burlison. “It’s shameful that people celebrate DOGE coming, 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 talking out of both sides of their mouths when it came to spending.
“We keep on saying we want to take the deficit and the debt seriously. But we keep on voting to increase it. You can’t have it both ways,” he said. “This is irresponsible.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, lamented this was business as usual.
“I mean, the swamp is going to swamp, right?” proffered Roy.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the following in the fall:
“We have broken the Christmas omni. I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition. There won’t be a Christmas omnibus,” Johnson declared Sept. 24. “We won’t do any ‘buses.’”
So, yours truly pressed Johnson about his promise after frustrated…
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