$70 Million for Salmon, $3 Million for Bee-Friendly Highways, and More Absurdities in the Omnibus Spending Bill

It's nice to see at least some Republicans still fighting for fiscal restraint. House Republicans are taking issue with the $1.7 trillion spending bill being rushed through Congress this week. They're objecting to specific provisions—$70 million for salmon?!—and to the massive size of the measure in general, as well as the fact that there's scarcely enough time for lawmakers to read through the whole 4,000 page bill before the vote.

Republican fiscal restraint can be a fair-weather thing, popping up when Democrats are in power and disappearing when conservatives reign. There are some indications that's what's going on here now. But it's still nice to see pushback against both the omnibus appropriations bill itself and the absurd manner in which it's being considered.

In yesterday's Roundup, we looked at some of the topline numbers in the bill, as well as the add-on proposals that were included (like a ban on TikTok on government devices) and left out (like a bill to make banking accessible for legal marijuana businesses). And since then, Reason writers have highlighted other facets of the bill, including the absence of a measure to fix the unjust disparity between penalties for offenses involving cocaine and those involving crack, and the inclusion of a pro-housing reform measure that seems likely to be ineffective.