Congress OKs massive spending bill

The lights stayed on late at the U.S. Capitol on Monday night as lawmakers voted on an enormous budget. A $900 billion coronavirus stimulus bill accompanied a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package for the rest of the fiscal year. Its signature provision will give qualifying taxpayers $600 payments. Legislators released the text of the 5,593-page bill on Monday afternoon after a computer glitch held it up.

Did anyone have time to read it? Probably not, though the lawmakers involved in the negotiations knew what was in it and shared the highlights with their colleagues. Rep. Justin Amash, L-Mich., called the bill a “towering pillar of corporatism” and said no responsible legislator should vote for it. But few others were expected to object. “I think everybody is pretty much ready for Christmas,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters.

Dig deeper: Read Joel Belz’s column on a Biblical approach to debt spending.