Spending Bill: To Pass or To Veto?

Licensed by Creative Commons President Donald Trump signs the $1.3 trillion spending bill.

By Cassandra Sedler

Staff Writer

On March 23, President Trump signed a major 1.3 trillion-dollar spending bill set to pay for government bills through the end of September.

Despite previously threatening to veto the omnibus bill, President Trump ended up signing the bill because of its proposed increased spending for the military.

The choice at stake was to pass a bill that does increase military funding, but greatly defies the conservative ideology that President Trump was elected on, or veto the bill, forcing Congress to rewrite a new budget.   

President Trump admitted that for the most part he did not even agree with what was in the bill, yet he continued to sign it.

Contrary to a Republican majority congress, the bill was still passed, which in turn is a direct rejection of the basis of conservative viewpoints and the reason the officials were elected by Republican voters in the first place.

The Republican majority is expected to vote with the intention of upholding the values of a limited government, but the massive federal budget passed by Congress encourages the complete opposite.

Furthermore, this omnibus bill provides as a clear example to the many problems that accompany the inner workings of our government.

When the 2,232-page monster of a bill was released, legislators were only given 17 hours to read it.

This commonplace practice is concerning, as bills are often proposed with an overhanging crisis, such as the case with the omnibus bill, in which a government shut-down would have occurred if a decision was not made.

Therefore, pressure is purposefully put on lawmakers and the president to make a quick decision to pass or veto a bill.

A “three-day rule” was initiated in 2010, arguing that House of Representatives members should get at least 72 hours to decide on a bill before it passes through to the floor.

However, the House of Representatives posted the spending bill way past this deadline, inevitably giving lawmakers little to no time to debate, or thoroughly consider what they were voting on.

Another problem with the rushed passing of this bill is the apparent neglect for translucency of the bill to the American people.

With the current practice of law making, the members themselves don’t have enough time to cover the contents of a bill to be passed, yet alone the rest of us Americans, who should be clued in as to where our money will be going.

Luckily, the fiscal year is half over, so for those worried about the passing of the $1.3 trillion spending bill, the topic will resurface again in 6 months.

Email Cassandra at:

csedler@live.esu.edu