Eighteen Republicans just looked their GOP colleagues and voters in the eye and told them to eat dirt.

On Thursday, the McConnell-Schumer $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by a vote of 68 – 29 with 18 Republicans supporting the measure. In doing so, these so-called conservatives not only increased wasteful spending, but cut off leverage from the incoming Congress.

Who were these men and women who just handed Democrats a major victory? We’ve got the names in alphabetical order:

Roy Blunt (MO), John Boozman (AR), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Susan Collins (ME), John Cornyn (TX), Tom Cotton (AR), Lindsey Graham (SC), Jim Inhofe (OK), Mitch McConnell (KY), Jerry Moran (KS), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rob Portman (OH), Mitt Romney (UT), Mike Rounds (SD), Richard Shelby (AL), John Thune (SD), Roger Wicker (MS), and Todd Young (IN).

Republicans voting yes (18): Senators Blunt Boozman Capito Collins Cornyn Cotton Graham Inhofe McConnell Moran Murkowski Portman Romney Rounds Shelby Thune Wicker & Young

Not voting: Barrasso, Burr & Cramer https://t.co/QG1mDxl20f

— Senate Press Gallery (@SenatePress) December 22, 2022

McConnell, the leader of the GOP Senate, claimed that this bill was a huge victory for the Republican Party.

He also implied that if you didn’t vote for the measure, then you didn’t support the U.S. troops and were assisting the Chinese Communist Party in obtaining military supremacy.

“There are literally two options before us,” the Senate minority leader said of the bill earlier in the week. “Number one, we can pass this bill, give our service members and commanders the resources they need, flip the president’s broken budget request on its head, and actually cut baseline, non-defense, non-veteran spending in real dollars while we’re at it. Or we can fail to pass this bill and give our armed forces confusion and uncertainty while the Chinese Communist Party continues to help their military commanders pour money into new research and new weapons.”

Mitch McConnell “There are literally two options before us. Number one, we can pass this bill, give our service members and commanders the resources they need. Or we can fail to pass this bill and give our armed forces confusion and uncertainty.” pic.twitter.com/L1N6CZbfJ0

— Public News DC (@PublicNewsDC) December 21, 2022

Yet those weren’t the only available choices.

A third avenue was passing a short-term spending bill, which would have allowed the incoming Congress to pass the omnibus bill in the new year.

With a GOP-controlled House, Republicans could have used their political might to pass a more favorable bill or secure wins in other areas. That omnibus bill could have done more to protect Americans against illegal aliens, secure our border, and fight the opioid epidemic. It could have ensured that aid to Ukraine was being spent wisely and it could have held the FBI and other agencies to task.

Instead, the bill supported by McConnell and his gang of 17 beefs up security for other country’s borders, sponsors gender studies in Pakistan, and keeps the gravy train flowing to other progressive pet causes, as well as The Uniparty’s decision to essentially enter the endless war in Ukraine.

It should be noted that McConnell, and others who voted for the bill, have a certain sense of glee about their bipartisan solution. The GOP leader claimed that the bill achieved “essentially all” of his party’s “priorities.”

Of course, as previously observed, that statement makes a lot more sense once you remember he is talking about Washington Republicans — and not those out there suffering through inflation, wide open borders, relentless attacks on childhood a la radical gender theory, and social degradation en masse with the threat of World War III hanging over our heads.

Now the bill heads to the House where outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has promised a quick vote where it will likely pass.

Readers should remember, McConnell didn’t act alone. He was aided and abetted by 17 other Republicans who just screwed over the country

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY), who ran as “openly gay,” divorced his wife just two weeks before he filed paperwork to run for office in 2020, according to a new report.

Santos, who has been repeatedly accused of misrepresenting himself on the campaign trail, did not disclose his previous marriage to a woman or the later divorce, according to the Daily Beast.

New York court records show that an individual with the name George Devolder Santos finalized an uncontested divorce with Uadla Santos Vieira Santos in 2019, according to the outlet. The person in question also had a second initial of “A.”

Santos’ middle name is Anthony, the Daily Beast noted, but he also occasionally uses Devolder, which is his mother’s maiden name. His financial company is also called the Devolder Organization.

Santos’ campaign biography does not mention any past marriage to a woman but notes that he lives with his husband and their four dogs on Long Island.

The alleged undisclosed marriage to and divorce of a woman comes after multiple assertions made by Santos have come under scrutiny.

The GOP congressman-elect previously claimed that his male fiancé was fired from his job as a pharmacist after he attended a New Year’s Eve party at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

As The Daily Wire previously reported, Santos said he earned degrees in finance and economics at Baruch College and New York University. However, NYU and Baruch both told CNN and The New York Times that they could find no records of Santos attending either school.

Santos also declared in his campaign biography that he worked at the Wall Street firms Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Both companies told CNN and the Times that they have no record of him working there.

In yet another unconfirmed aspect of the congressman’s past, Santos said that he founded and ran a charity called “Friends of Pets United.” CNN reported that a search showed that there appears to be no record of the non-profit organization, according to the IRS.

Another recent question mark concerning Santos involves his claimed Jewish ancestry. The Forward reported on Wednesday that the congressman lied when he said that his grandparents fled anti-Jewish persecution during World War II. Instead, a genealogical search showed his mother’s parents were born in Brazil instead of Ukraine or Belgium, as his campaign website asserted, according to The Forward.

On Monday, Santos addressed the report by the Times as an attempt by the political left to attack his recent victory. Santos lost to Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) in 2020, but he defeated Democratic candidate Robert Zimmerman during the 2022 midterm elections.

“After four years in the public eye, and on the verge of being sworn in as a member of the Republican led 118th Congress, the New York Times launches this shotgun blast of attacks,” a statement posted to his Twitter account read. “It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations.”

pic.twitter.com/mn181XbqRR

— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) December 19, 2022

Joseph Cairo Jr., the Nassau County Republican Committee chairman, argued that Santos should be given the opportunity to address the accusations.

“While issues that have been raised in a December 19th New York Times article are serious, I believe that George Santos deserves an opportunity to address the claims detailed in the article, which have been repeated by other news sources,” Cairo said in a statement.

“Every person deserves an opportunity to ‘clear’ his/her name in the face of accusations. I am committed to this principle, and I look forward to the Congressman-Elect’s responses to the news reports,” he added.

Cairo made the statement prior to the latest information related to news of the congressman’s divorce.