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Congress passes federal budget – Romney is lone Utah yes vote

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, left, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., arrive as lawmakers rush to complete passage of a spending bill to fund the government before a midnight Friday deadline or face the prospect of a partial government shutdown going into the Christmas holiday, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
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AP
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, left, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., arrive as lawmakers rush to complete passage of a spending bill to fund the government before a midnight Friday deadline or face the prospect of a partial government shutdown going into the Christmas holiday, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

KUER reports that Congress passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill this week. Thursday, it passed the Senate on a 68-29 vote, followed by House passage of it Friday. The bill funds the federal government until next September.

Utah’s two Republican senators split their votes. Mitt Romney voted for the bill and Mike Lee against.

KUER reported that Romney said he supports the bill because it makes financial sense.

"I'm convinced that this will cost less money than if we kick the can down the road until next year....I'm convinced that if we don't pass this omnibus, we're going to see a deal that costs more money."

Romney added that he supports measures in the bill like increased military spending, the Electoral Count Act, and funding for projects in Utah.

Lee voiced opposition to the bill earlier this week, calling it a – quote – “inflation bomb.”

He also put forward an amendment that would have blocked the Biden administration from rescinding Title 42. The amendment did not pass.

The bill now heads to the House for a final vote.

And at least two members of Utah's House Delegation are not fans of the bill. Republicans John Curtis and Chris Stewart both took issue with the bill's length of more than 4,000 pages.

Curtis said in a tweet that while he appreciated that it included some previous measures he'd fought for, he couldn't vote for it as a fiscal conservative.

The House passed the bill Friday with support from just nine Republicans. Utah’s four representatives, all Republican, voted no.