So large, it gets a name: CRomnibus. $1.1 trillion for what?

Lame-duck spending bill lays the ground for conflict in the next Congress

December 12, 2014 12:00PM ET

by Inside Story Team @AJInsideStoryAM

The House of Representatives dodged another government shutdown Thursday night by passing a $1 trillion spending measure, nicknamed CRomnibus.

The measure got its nickname for resembling an omnibus bill and including a continuing resolution — 12 bills from 12 committees, a sign of the difficult mechanics behind keeping the government open and working.

The White House and Speaker of the House John Boehner are supporters of the bill, and they wanted to secure funding for most government agencies through the summer.

“The president believes that this particular compromise proposal merited bipartisan support in the House. He believes it merits bipartisan support in the Senate,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.

Others criticized what they saw as too many concessions made to get the bill passed before the Dec. 11 deadline. “This is not about partisanship. This is about fairness. This is about accountability and responsibility. This is about preventing another financial collapse that could again wipe out millions of jobs and take down our whole economy,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was particularly upset over the loosening of the Dodd-Frank bank regulations enacted after the 2008 financial crisis.

Also among the policy pork:

Relaxing rules on campaign financing, exponentially increasing the amounts individuals may give to parties.
$5.4 billion for U.S. embassy security worldwide, including new money to implement recommendations from the Benghazi accountability review board.

And the Department of Homeland Security will get funding only until February — a way to challenge President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration last month.

“Here we are in the House being blackmailed, being blackmailed to vote for an appropriations bill.”

— Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., minority leader

Also unhappy are some Republicans who felt the CRomnibus didn’t go far enough. Instead of reining in Washington’s big-spending ways, they say, it has left the wallet wide open.

“It is a gigantic compromise — and one designed to let government continue to function.”

— Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.

“This is a lousy way of doing business.”

— Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah

Now the bill is in the hands of the Senate and is expected to go to a vote this weekend.

“There are Senators who are unhappy with this legislation, and they’ll have the chance to make their objections heard.”

— Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., majority leader

It’s all part of the difficult dance in Washington in recent years, with intraparty fighting and legacy legislative priorities tied to one party or the other. In this case, Senate Democrats wanted to firm up what they can before ceding chamber control in 2015 to the Republicans, and Republicans couldn't take a chance on being blamed for another government shutdown.

We consulted a panel of experts for the Inside Story.