House Passes Omnibus Appropriations Bill

[gratuitous]

Well, I guess Democrats can kiss the 2020 elections good-bye, at least in the estimation of some folks:

Daily Kos Story and Summary

By a 226-203 vote, the House of Representatives this afternoon passed an omnibus appropriations bill that ignores Trump's demands for steep cuts to or the outright elimination of many federal programs. The bill also includes numerous provisions intended to block Trump priorities, defunding nuclear technology transfers to Saudi Arabia and rejecting Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

The bill also repeals the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), the broadly written joint resolution allowing the Bush, Obama, and now Trump administrations wide latitude in mounting military operations intended to combat "terrorism" without additional congressional debate or approval. This is of special note given the Trump administration's new claims of "ties" between Iran and al-Qaida—evidently an effort to shoehorn possible military actions against Iran into the 2001 authorization, thus bypassing Congress.

Oh no! Repealing the AUMF?! That'll cost Democrats votes from fans of war and excessive executive authority. Why would they do that? Why would they do that now? It'll be the end of the Democrats in 2020 for sure, because everyone just loves the AUMF, and totally endorses Trump having that unfettered power. The Senate will never pass it anyway, and there's just no sense in saddling Republicans with responsibility for their action and pointing up meaningful differences between the parties. Why did voters install a Democratic majority in the House in 2018 if they're just going to oppose the Republicans?

Sarcasm mode off. But please don't be surprised to see some or all of these fatuous arguments advanced in the wake of this vote in the House.