Republicans worry key McCarthy spending promise is unraveling amid Speaker’s fight

Some House Republicans are concerned a key spending promise made by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) could be on the skids as a thorny GOP battle to elect his successor drags into its third week. 

Republican fears are swirling that Congress could be on the path to jamming through another trillion-dollar omnibus spending package in the months ahead amid stalled progress in both chambers to pass all 12 annual government funding bills.

“I think we are, and that’s awful. All an omnibus does is puts a lump sum of money, that the taxpayers have no idea where it’s going,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told The Hill this week, calling the idea “not right for anybody.”

When Republicans reclaimed the House majority, they criticized the passage of a $1.7 trillion omnibus as bad governance and excessive spending.

“One thing you gotta know on principle too: We’re not taking up an omnibus,” McCarthy said earlier this year. “It’s not going to happen. We gotta get back to doing the work that the American people expect us to do.”