House rams through 12 appropriations bills – but there’s more to see here

House Republicans passed a slate of appropriations bills without an omnibus, proving that action is possible in Congress when the GOP wants something done, but perhaps at the expense of key America First items

Opinion-editorial by Summer Lane | January 23, 2026

House GOP members on Capitol Hill passed a slate of 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026 this week, avoiding an omnibus, and proving that, when they want to, Republicans can be united and push legislation through.

“Despite the noise, despite our slim margins, despite the fact that most members in the House have never gone through a regular, member-driven appropriations process before, this team got it done,” said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.).

He said he expected the Senate to pass all 12 bills and looked forward to sending the legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk. The legislation will keep the government funded and functional at least until September.

It also funds some key America First goals, such as empowering the Department of Homeland Security amid its ongoing push to restore law and order to American cities.  

“Congress is replacing Biden-era spending with disciplined, Republican-led funding that puts America First,” a press release from the Appropriations Committee proclaimed.

It continued, “These bills advance President Trump’s agenda, empower his Cabinet to govern effectively, and codify DOGE-backed reforms to eliminate waste, duplication, and unchecked federal spending.”

House Republicans’ perceived appropriations wins on Friday prove that the GOP can get legislation passed when they need to, but at what cost?

Two key items need to be prioritized in the House, but thus far, Republicans have failed to give attention to the things that matter most to the American people.

Republicans ignore SAVE Act, push through kill switches

Election integrity is an increasingly important topic for Americans. According to an October 2025 survey from Center Square, 71 percent of Americans support the concept of presenting identification to vote, with just 23 percent opposing.

As reported by LindellTV, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said on Friday that she would support shutting down the House floor to ram through the SAVE Act – legislation that would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

Voter ID seems like a no-brainer for most, according to national polling, so it’s infuriating to many that election integrity wasn’t codified by Republican majorities in Congress immediately after President Trump took office.

Instead, the 12 appropriations bills Republicans passed this week enshrine non-essential and even anti-America First items like:

• Kill switch technology for automobiles. This tech is seen by many as tyrannical, allowing installed tech to monitor driver behavior and even detect driver impairment, per Newsweek. It’s worth noting that 57 Republicans joined Democrats to block legislation that would have reversed this mandated surveillance,
• Failing to keep provisions in the bills that explicitly included language barring federal funding from going to so-called “gender affirming” care. The Human Rights Campaign claimed these provisions were “anti-LGBTQ+ riders” and celebrated that these items were stripped from the bills.
• $1.2 trillion for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Defense. This seemingly flies in the face of the White House’s posture on reducing government spending for federal programs. “Where the White House attempted to eliminate entire programs, we chose to increase their funding,” said Ranking House Appropriations Committee Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.). “Where the Administration proposed slashing resources, we chose to sustain funding at current levels.”

It looks like federal agencies got exactly what they wanted.

Bills could still be vetted in the Senate

Certainly, some of these items may be cut in the Senate, although it remains unclear if that will happen. Congress is likely eager to avoid another government shutdown, and with a January 30 deadline looming, it would make more sense for the Senate to rubber-stamp the bills and send them to the president’s desk rather than to take the time to parse through each item, unfortunately.

It’s just a shame that, for every Republican legislative win, there are concessions made that seem to undermine those same victories.

Have they forgotten about the healthcare crisis? President Trump has made it clear that he wants Congress to act swiftly to codify a common-sense healthcare reform package that fixes the horrors of Obamacare, but House Republicans have failed to make even an inch of progress on that goal.

There appears to be no urgency or empathy for the plight of the working man and woman.

So, while Congress fails to make any movement on codifying voter ID and fixing a wrecked healthcare system, Americans are left holding the bag for a multi-trillion-dollar budget.

President Donald Trump is a remarkable president with a great agenda and winning policies, so it truly is a shame that Republicans in Congress don’t seem to care about codifying the majority of these policies into law.

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