It took two days to print and it will take even longer to read.
According to The Hill, Senate Republicans are going through with a plan to have the entire omnibus spending bill read on the Senate floor, a feat that won’t be completed for 50 hours. Republicans have vowed to vote against the 1,924-page, $1.1 trillion bill that is loaded with billions in earmarks.
“Senate clerks are expected to read the massive bill in rotating shifts around the clock — taking breaks to drink water and pop throat lozenges — to keep legislative business on track, according to a Democratic leadership aide,” The Hill reports.
That would mean any Senate business would be stalled until Saturday evening.
“If they bring this up, they’re going to read it. It’ll take them a day or two to read it,” Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who’s been pushing for the recitation, told Fox News. “Again, we’re trying to run out the clock. They should not be able to pass this kind of legislation in a lame-duck Congress.”
“To suggest that we can dual-track an issue as important as the funding of the government with this almost 2,000-page, $1 trillion-plus bill at the same time that we are seriously debating the START treaty is a fantasy,” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) told reporters Wednesday.
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) responded by blaming Republicans for dragging their feet.
“The irony, the hypocrisy of us sitting here with them standing up and saying ‘Oh my Gosh, it’s the last minute,’ ” Kerry told The Hill. “It’s the last minute because they haven’t let us do anything. The game plan is usually to keep preventing things from happening.”
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