H.R. 133, the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, was split in two parts by the House of Representatives under a voting procedure known as “dividing the question.” This part of the bill includes $860 billion in “discretionary” appropriations, including $696 billion for the Defense Department (which includes spending for foreign military interventionism as well as legitimate national defense) and $69 billion for the Homeland Security Department.
The House passed this part of H.R. 133 on December 21, 2020 by a vote of 327 to 85 (Roll Call 250). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Congress is failing to address its profligate spending that yielded an annual federal deficit of $3.1 trillion in fiscal 2020. Moreover, Congress is minimizing its accountability to voters by combining all “discretionary” federal spending and coronavirus aid into one gigantic bill and only holding two votes on that bill in the House.
