Congress has left town for the year but alas not before another bipartisan spending party that has typified the Trump Presidency. The numbers deserve notice because they are likely to have more long-term impact than impeachment.
Lawmakers whooped through $1.4 trillion in discretionary spending for the rest of the fiscal year with little debate or objection. A bipartisan deal on the budget outlines in August was supposed to give Congress time to negotiate 12 individual spending bills, but as usual they couldn’t agree so they piled it all into two bills totalling more than 2,300 pages on Monday. A day later they added a list of tax subsidies, and by Friday it was law. Congress can act fast when it is greasing its own wheels.