Their Successful Year

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting the idea that congressional approval of $50 billion in new spending for 2016 shows that Democrats still run Capitol Hill, and defended the huge spending bill as a necessary compromise between the two parties.

“Republicans felt like we needed [to be] responsive to the foreign policy threat that we’ve just been talking about, to spend more on defense,” he said. “And so, in order to achieve that, we had to work with a Democratic president who wanted to spend more on the domestic side.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan defended — but distanced himself from the $1.1 trillion spending bill Congress passed.

“This is divided government, and in divided government you don’t get everything you want,” Ryan said.

Ryan put responsibility for the agreement on his predecessor, former Speaker John Boehner claiming the bill was largely negotiated when he became speaker seven weeks ago.

“I walked into the speakership seven weeks ago with this process already in place, with this cake already baked,” claimed Ryan.

Democrats praised passage of the deal, crowing that they were able to force the GOP to agree to increase domestic spending as President Obama demanded. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid even said the bill capped off a “successful year” for Democrats.

Not only does it increase domestic spending, it also funds Planned Parenthood and the Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, it doesn’t place restrictions on the admittance of middle eastern refugees to the U.S.