Another day of Kari Lake trial watch

Is keeping me otherwise occupied, thus light posting.

However…

At least 18 Republicans joined all Senate Democrats to pass a $1.85 trillion omnibus spending bill Thursday afternoon, in the final two weeks in which Democrats control the House of Representatives.

The bill passed 68-29. Since there are 47 Democrats in the Senate and 3 Independents who caucus with Democrats, at least 18 Republicans voted to support the package.

Conservatives called the move during the lame-duck session a “stunning act of betrayal.” Democrats have had both branches of Congress and the presidency during all of 2022, conservatives say, but rushed to pass this budget bill only after Republicans won a House majority in November.

Since 1994, the House majority has changed four times. In each case, the outgoing majority didn’t pass an omnibus appropriations bill during the lame-duck session following the election. In each case, the outgoing majority left the hard work of legislating to the representatives the American people had just elected.

Here are the 18 Republicans who voted yes for the trillion dollar omnibus bill, giving Nancy Pelosi another year to implement the programs and laws and funding included in this travesty.

Roy Blunt, Missouri

John Boozman, Arkansas

Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia

Susan Collins, Maine

John Cornyn, Texas

Tom Cotton, Arkansas

Lindsey Graham, South Carolina

Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma

Mitch McConnell, Kentucky

Jerry Moran, Kansas

Lisa Murkowski, Alaska

Rob Portman, Ohio

Mitt Romney, Utah

Mike Rounds, South Dakota

Richard Shelby, Alabama

John Thune, South Dakota

Roger Wicker, Mississippi

Todd Young, Indiana

Three Republicans did not vote: 

John Barasso, Wyoming

Richard Burr, North Carolina

Kevin Cramer, North Dakota

Four Republicans who had previously voted to advance the bill switched their votes to oppose it:

Tommy Tuberville, Alabama

Marco Rubio, Florida

Chuck Grassley, Iowa

Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi

Twenty-one Senate Republicans voted for the omnibus bill days before Republicans will take over the House of Representatives. Pictured: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., talks to reporters following the weekly Republican Senate policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on December 20, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)