The source attributed Republican support primarily to the bill’s setting defense spending at the level of the National Defense Authorization Act while keeping domestic spending at Biden’s budget request — with the addendum that, under budgetary rules, it’s actually a little better than that. Under the applicable rules, spending for veterans counts under domestic spending. All that is deemed to be good on its own terms and also to begin to break the habit of Democrats insisting on equivalent increases each year for defense and domestic spending.
Republicans also believe they secured some small wins — a fentanyl scheduling bill, an antitrust bill targeting Chinese malfeasance, and the TikTok ban — but of course had some small losses too. Republicans believe they kept out the worst bills, such as authorization of marijuana banking, promoting the journalism cartel, and so on. There was no shortage of bad ideas.
On a comparative basis, Republicans believe this is actually one of the cleaner omnibus bills of its kind in the Senate.
[Scott’s not endorsing or rebutting the argument, just passing it along. — Ed]
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