McCarthy’s deal on debt limit ensures another train wreck.

Remember the massive, more than 4,000-page omnibus spending legislation that lawmakers passed days before Christmas last year without having time to read? Well, get ready for another one this year. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., negotiated a debt limit deal with the Biden administration that practically guarantees another train wreck omnibus this coming December.

Flawed Reason to Vote for the Bill

On Tuesday, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., explained why he would vote to advance the agreement in the House Rules Committee later in the day, even as fellow conservatives Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., opposed the measure. Massie cited Section 102 of the bill as a reason to support the legislation.

“That’s not the process we’re going to follow when we get to appropriations. And the one redeeming — there are things to dislike and things to like about this bill — but the redeeming portion for me is Section 102, where we all come to the — we’re forced, Senate, House, Republican, Democrat, president, everybody — for us to come to the table and do our job, pass all 12 appropriations bills. If we haven’t at that point, there’ll be a 1 percent cut.”

Unfortunately, Massie has it entirely backward. Instead of discouraging an omnibus bill, Section 102 will virtually guarantee it.

Doesn’t Prohibit an Omnibus

Section 102 of the debt limit bill would adjust spending caps for either or both of the next two fiscal years if a continuing resolution is in place as of Jan. 1. For instance, fiscal year 2024 begins this coming Oct. 1, 2023; if a continuing resolution is in place for any portion of the federal government as of Jan. 1, 2024, then the spending caps negotiated in the bill would get adjusted.

In that sense, the bill would help to ensure that Congress passes “each of the [12] full year discretionary appropriation acts,” as the bill states. But Section 102 comes with a huge caveat: It doesn’t prohibit passing those 12 acts in a single omnibus spending bill — as Congress has done far too often in recent years.

Incentives Favor an Omnibus

The details of Section 102 also explain how the bill’s incentives all point in the direction of an omnibus bill. Spending on defense programs will decrease, while spending on non-defense programs will actually increase when compared to the underlying spending targets

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