Due diligence? Text of 5,600-page spending bill given to House members just hours before vote

The final text of the $900 billion negotiated coronavirus stimulus bill and $1.4 trillion federal budget bill was released just hours before the expected vote on Monday evening.

The stimulus bill and the omnibus appropriations bill are being considered for passage together. According to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office, the final vote on the legislation is "expected to occur late into the day."

The 5,600-page Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, estimated at a total of $2.4 trillion, contains appropriations to fund the federal government through September 2021. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, said the bill includes a "strong increase in non-defense discretionary funding." The stimulus portion of the bill includes $600 direct payments to individuals as well as more federal funding for public education, unemployment insurance and the Paycheck Protection Program to aid small businesses.

Congressional leaders reached an agreement on the legislation Sunday but the final text of the bill wasn't released until late in the afternoon on Monday. Some lawmakers, such as Rep. Justin Amash, a Michigan Independent, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said there was not enough time for members to read the 5,600-page bill before the scheduled vote on Monday evening.

"Members of Congress have not read this bill. It’s over 5000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in 2 hours. This isn’t governance. It’s hostage-taking," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter.

"The PUBLIC needs to see these bills w enough time to contact their rep to let them know how they feel. Members are reeling right now bc they don’t have time to consult w/ their communities," she added.

The $900 billion stimulus legislation is the second-largest rescue package in U.S. history next to the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that Congress passed in March.

"This #COVIDrelief agreement will provide emergency assistance to help American families, businesses, workers, people. It will deliver the 2nd largest federal stimulus in our history," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on Sunday evening. "Only the CARES Act will have been bigger. And then we need to do even more under President Biden."