House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will reportedly campaign against the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that Senate Republicans negotiated with Democrats.
McCarthy’s break with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will reportedly come at a GOP lunch meeting Wednesday, just a day after Senate leadership agreed to the omnibus, according to Punchbowl News. Congress is expected to give a final vote on the package later on Wednesday.
House Republicans like Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., have taken issue with specific aspects of the bill aside from its huge price tag. Bishop pointed to what he called a ‘sinister’ portion of the bill that allots nearly $600 million to encourage ‘family planning’ in places where human population growth threatens animal biodiversity.
‘Malthusianism is a disturbing, anti-human ideology that should have ZERO place in any federal program,’ Bishop wrote on Twitter.
Republican in-fighting over the spending bill comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy visits Washington, D.C. for the first time since Russia’s invasion began. The $1.7 trillion package also includes $45 billion in military funding for the war-torn country.
While McCarthy has called for more scrutiny on funding to Ukraine and an end to ‘blank checks,’ McConnell says he is all-in on continuing to fund Ukraine’s defense.
‘Providing assistance for Ukrainians to defeat the Russians is the No. 1 priority for the United States right now according to most Republicans,’ McConnell told reporters Tuesday.
Regardless of the fate of the omnibus, President Biden announced $1.85 billion in new aid for Ukriane on Wednesday, including a Patriot missile battery. Patriot missiles are the most advanced American air defense system.
Zelenskyy will address Congress Wednesday evening.