‘We Will Self-Destruct As A Party’: Mike Lee Warns Senate GOP After They Vote For Massive Omnibus Bill

Slamming his fellow GOP senators for voting for the massive omnibus bill pushed by the Democratic Party, Utah GOP Senator Mike Lee, who had authored an amendment that would enable Title 42 to be extended in order to curb illegal immigration, warned of the demise of the Republican Party. The bill passed in the Senate, 68-29; 18 GOP senators voted for the bill.

Prior to Lee’s remarks made to Larry Kudlow of Fox News, Kudlow himself had slammed the Senate.

“The way that Senator Mike Lee was treated just a few hours ago on the floor of the Senate makes this the worst [omnibus bill] ever,” Kudlow declared of Lee’s attempt to extend Title 42. “Lee had the votes to pass his amendment; it would have been 49-48, but [Majority Leader] Senator Chuck Schumer stepped in to extend the voting time another eight minutes for some arm-twisting. Well, guess whose arms he twisted? Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.”

“That’s right; these two ‘independent-minded’ people, who frequently boast that they are not part of the Left-wing big-government socialist-sponsoring Democratic Party, miraculously changed their votes,” he snapped.

Kudlow pointed out that had Lee’s amendment passed, in all likelihood, the omnibus bill would have failed and then been channeled into a continuing resolution that would not have been voted on until the Republicans took over the House in January, providing the opportunity to significantly change things.

Kudlow noted that Kentucky GOP Senator Rand Paul had said that the GOP had lost any “power of the purse” and that the GOP had “emasculated” itself.

“This is not a good episode for the Republican Party, is it?” he asked Lee.

“No, not at all,” Lee answered. “I’m glad you brought up the tax hikes in there, which are themselves problematic, and you’re correct to point out they are not getting the attention they deserve.”

“One of the reasons that this sort of thing can happen and not get much attention in the process – and Republicans can still go through the motions and vote for it, devastatingly – is because it’s folded into a 4,155-page bill, one that was negotiated in secret by four or five members of Congress, held secret from the public until Tuesday morning,” Lee noted, adding, “There’s not a human alive that can digest 4,155 pages of legislative appropriations text in that short period of time.”

“One of the reasons why this should never happen — Republicans, in particular, who do this — they should be asked to never, ever, do it again. We will self-destruct as a party if this ever happens again,” he concluded.

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