Omnibus Bill Flown 1,500 Miles to St. Croix so Biden Could Sign it
“As thousands of travelers remained stranded at airports across the country amid a chaotic few days for the airline industry, the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill scored a ticket to St. Croix”
The Omnibus spending bill flew over a thousand miles to St. Croix just so Biden can sign it. As if the optics of Biden being in St. Croix as Americans are freezing to death weren’t bad enough.
You have to wonder if the bill was flown first class.
From colleague Edward Lawrence. Omnibus bill will be en route to St. Croix for Biden to sign there. Needs to be signed by 12/30
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 29, 2022
The New York Post reports:
Biden signs $1.7T spending bill after it’s flown 1,500 miles to St. Croix
The omnibus flies commercial.
As thousands of travelers remained stranded at airports across the country amid a chaotic few days for the airline industry, the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill scored a ticket to St. Croix for President Biden to affix his signature at the tropical villa where he’ll ring in the new year.
The White House told NBC News on Thursday that the more than 4,000-page bill was delivered to the 80-year-old president by White House staff on a regularly scheduled commercial flight.
It’s unclear if the mammoth piece of legislation was checked or flew carry-on.
“Today, I signed the bipartisan omnibus bill, ending a year of historic progress,” Biden announced in a Twitter post that showed him approving the 4,000-page-plus bill.
“It’ll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, VAWA funding – and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine. Looking forward to more in 2023,” Biden added.
A White House official told Fox Business reporter Edward Lawrence that the massive document was “transported to St. Croix for POTUS to sign” in order to meet a Dec. 30 deadline for the government to remain funded.
And of course, Biden bragged about signing it.
Today, I signed the bipartisan omnibus bill, ending a year of historic progress.
It'll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, VAWA funding – and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine.
Looking forward to more in 2023. pic.twitter.com/KTI1R9qMij
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2022
Here are some Twitter reactions:
Joe Biden jet setting off to St. Croix for his weekly vacation instead of staying in DC for one extra day to sign the omnibus bill, causing it to now have to be flown by private jet to the Caribbean, is the perfect description of our government. It gets no better than that.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 29, 2022
The imagery of flying a bill to Joe Biden's vacation in St. Croix to spend $2 trillion in taxpayer cash is pretty wild https://t.co/VizrkHJc0S
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 29, 2022
The irony.
The Omnibus Bill is having a better holiday vacation than you. https://t.co/WclkvdhRia
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) December 29, 2022
Not only did Biden skip the country during a major winter storm that killed dozens, he didn’t sign the federal gov’s funding bill before he left. Now the gov has to waste tens of thousands flying the bill to St. Croix for his signature.
And Democrats continue to defend it. https://t.co/yWPYu4Un6d
— Helvidius Priscus 🐳🇺🇸🦈 (@HelvidiusPrisc) December 29, 2022
Didn't fly anywhere this winter?
Maybe you couldn't afford it?
Maybe your flight was canceled?
Maybe you wanted to save the environment?
Guess who will be flying though?
The Omnibus Bill.
They are going to fly the Omnibus Bill to St. Croix so that Joe can sign it. https://t.co/QIOojPffuq— Brick Suit (@Brick_Suit) December 29, 2022
This story is a perfect metaphor for the government waste we’re witnessing right now.
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Comments
“You have to wonder if the bill was flown first class.”
The size of that bill, my first thought was if they needed a C-5A.
Beat me to it…
You have to wonder if the bill was flown first class, but you don’t have to wonder if it was a first class bill.
I wonder, if the bill is lost on its return transit does that count as not being signed?
Presumably it doesn’t actually have to be returned. Once signed it could be shredded and it would still be law. Which makes me wonder why they didn’t just print it over there. I don’t think it says anywhere that the president has to sign the same copy that was endorsed by the house’s speaker and the senate’s president pro tem. Those endorsements are not mentioned anywhere in the constitution.
“Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the president of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it…”
“Which makes me wonder why they didn’t just print it over there.”
Where do you think Maricopa County’s excess printers got remaindered?
Doing a little research there is something called an enrolled bill.
The way I read that it is the enrolled bill the president has to sign. If that is the case that would explain why shipped to him, but still leaves open what happens if lost in transit. I suppose congress just simply makes another enrolled bill, but does that one have to be signed as well?
I don’t see anything in the constitution requiring such a thing.
In any case, once it’s signed it’s law. There is certainly no requirement that anything be done with it after that, so it can be shredded over there instead of flying it back.
Point of order, sort of: Arguably he didn’t skip the country. The US Virgin Islands is an unincorporated territory of the USA; so it’s not technically part of the USA, but its people are US citizens (by statute, not by the 14th amendment) and it’s subject to US law. It’s certainly not part of any other country.
On the other hand, who cares whether he “skipped the country” or not? The point would be just as valid if he were in Hawaii or Key West or some other remote part of what is without doubt the USA.
Well, *I* care if he “skipped the country”. After all, we are BETTER OFF whenever he is NOT on the job!
Even if he were in the White House, he would not be on the job. Joe Biden has not been on the job in years.
The good news is, the Puppeteer is on the job—you know, the person who manipulates Biden the puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is on vacation in the Virgin Islands. The puppeteer may or may not have travelled with the entourage.
once again the uni-party flips us the finger and we continue to feed at the trough
“As thousands of travelers remained stranded at airports across the country amid a chaotic few days for the airline industry, the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill scored a ticket to St. Croix”
Amazing how far “Do you know who I AM?!?” Still goes.
So does its inverse. That’s why Antifas wear masks.
Maybe this is the reason Southwest Airlines had so many cancelations, they used their fleet to ship the bill to Coma Joe
Southwest did itself in. A wildcat mass-quit followed by software unable to cope with the fallout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghEFf2CQypc
Lautreamont _Maldoror_
It is midnight. Not a single Bastille-Madeleine omnibus is to be seen. I am mistaken: here is one approaching suddenly, as if it were emerging from below ground. The few belated passers-by eye it attentively, for it seems unlike any other omnibus. Seated on the open upper deck are men with the immobile eyes of dead fish. They are crowded against one another and appear lifeless; besides, the regulation number of passengers has not been exceeded. Whenever the driver gives his horses the whip, one would think it was the whip that drove his arm, and not his arm the whip. What might this collection of bizarre, mute beings be? Are they inhabitants of the moon? There are times when one would be tempted to think so, but on the whole they resemble corpses….
I had this crazy idea. What if there was a law that said Potus had to initial every page of the bill that is being approved? Magical thinking, I know..but it might help keep these ridiculous tomes from being drafted…
There used to be a “line item veto” that took care of omnibus bills.
I thought they tried but it was ruled unconstitutional?
Unconstitutional and unworkable in practice at the Federal level. From a Federal Constitutional standpoint the President has the power to veto legislation but not portions of the legislation he doesn’t like. It’s an all or none power in the Federal Constitution; some States have a line item veto within their State Constitution.
It’s unworkable at the Federal level, IMO. Too many disparate factions and shifting alliances results in too many compromises to get the votes to pass it. Rural v Urban, manufacturing v agriculture, importers v exporters, big States v Small States, regions v each other, red v blue, guns v butter, consumers v corporations, Too many interests to list and all must give a little to get a little or nothing gets gets done; which might not be a bad thing if Congress doesn’t do anything they can’t make things worse.
Give the President the power to choose this but not that from the legislative compromise and he would become a de facto third legislature. IMO, for every ‘good’ POTUS who does the ‘right’ thing there will be three who are ‘bad’ and choose the ‘wrong’ thing. Even that ratio is likely overly optimistic.
The counter-argument would be that Congress passes the bill knowing that there’s a line item veto and if they want to avoid it for some reason they’re welcome to put their pet project in its own bill. Otherwise it’s a handy way to pass stuff without passing it, to satisfy donors but not give them anything. That was its point.
Imagine if we only had laws that would pass on their own — one topic, one item, with no wheeling-dealing, alliances, or compromises to get the votes.
rhhardin,
Yes indeed, that’s one point many miss; that a line item veto would have Congress passing X item in legislation but having the POTUS veto X. The donor class would have a field day with it and the politicians in Congress would then blame the POTUS for killing the X that average voters wanted. Then X would be shoved aside for another decade.
Bierce,
The normal budget process is not too far off that outline. Which is why the politicians love the Omnibus framework. The second worst mistake Congress made this century was to end sequestration as a tool. IMO, bringing it back so that the govt gets 95% of the precious year’s funding until we get the real budget process followed would help. Play out the impact of that 5% reduction over a few years and the savings add up quickly as would the pressure. It has the benefit of aiding those concerned about bloated budgets by flipping the power dynamic.
More proof, as if we needed more, that the Climate Change grift is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated, but thankfully, cracks are beginning to appear.
Biden bragged about climate change while receiving this bill shipped first class. Shows his real commitment.
It is all just a matter of rubbing our noses in it. By both parties.
Subotai Bahadur
My nose is sore.
Can’t get the image out of my mind of the “Bill” character from Schoolhouse Rock kicking back in First Class with a big beer belly and an umbrella daiquiri in his hand, drunkly singing his little song.
Couple articles at American Thinker this week it’s a scam by the Uniparty, they can’t take the next Congress duties and carve theirs in stone and hand it to them.
Most expensive trip per mile ever.
Lowered expectations, shared responsibility through progressive prices and availability. Forward! to the past.
VAWA funding? I thought that was dead years ago.
Don’t know why they had to fly this abomination of a bill to St. Croix. Biden should have done what Obama did on several occasions when he was absent from the White House and authorized an Autopen signature on the legislation. Would have avoided the whole negative publicity of flying it 1,500 miles and all.
Autopen is legal??
Might as well just turn Brandon into a Futurama Head in a Jar right now.
Except that there’s probably no point to preserving the head, either.