omnibus bill
Catch-all legislation
An omnibus bill is legislation that bundles multiple unrelated provisions into a single package, often spanning hundreds or thousands of pages.
The strategy forces legislators to accept items they oppose alongside items they support: The omnibus bill included funding for highways, healthcare, and defense.
Critics argue omnibus bills obscure accountability and invite hidden provisions; proponents say they're necessary to move complex agendas through gridlocked legislatures.
- earmarksDesignates for specific use
- logrollingTrading political support mutually
- back roomPrivate space behind scenes
- amendmentChange to official text
- packageWrapped item for delivery
legislation · vote · catchall · bundled · debate · law · act · sequestration · Christmas tree · kitchen sink · fine print · rider · line item · filibuster · appropriations · provision · cloture · draft
- Canadian GovernmentHouse of Commons, Senate, Prime Minister, federal government, parliamentary democracy
- Congresssenator, representative, senators, House, committee
- Antebellum Americaantebellum era, Compromise of 1850, sectionalism, states' rights, Fugitive Slave Act
- Canadian ParliamentHouse of Commons, Senate, Parliament Hill, MP, senator
- federal budgetfederal budget, appropriations, deficit, national budget, surplus
- government spendinggovernment spending, federal budget, expenditures, allocations, military spending