North Carolina Representative Dan Bishop on Tuesday shared a thread to Twitter picking apart the package. The GOP has widely condemned the 4,155-page bill as a massive waste of federal spending.
Congress is scrambling to pass the bill before a Friday deadline. Meanwhile, a colossal winter storm threatens to envelop much of the country in snow, bringing with it the possibility of widespread holiday flight cancellations—including for lawmakers anxious to leave Washington.
Still, some members of Congress—Bishop chief among them—have blasted colleagues for pushing forth the measure without a full understanding of its contents.
Bishop took to Twitter on Tuesday to rail against the omnibus, highlighting one portion he views as especially troubling: “[N]ot less than $575,000,000 should be made available for family planning/reproductive health, including in areas where population growth threatens biodiversity or endangered species.”
“On a more sinister note, here’s at least $575 million for ‘family planning’ in areas where population growth ’threatens biodiversity,’” Bishop wrote in a tweet. “Malthusianism is a disturbing, anti-human ideology that should have ZERO place in any federal program.”
Merriam-Webster defines Malthusianism as a theory by which the “population tends to increase at a faster rate than its means of subsistence and that unless it is checked by moral restraint or disaster (such as disease, famine, or war) widespread poverty and degradation inevitably result.”
Bishop isn’t the only one to argue against that particular part of the bill. Analyst David Ditch with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, tweeted that he found it “profoundly disturbing.”
Many other social media users also weighed in.
“This is incredibly messed up,” wrote Katrina Trinko, the editor-in-chief of the right-leaning Daily Wire. “Sure, let’s protect endangered species—but let’s not do so at the expense of peoples’ lives.”
However, some critics pushed back against the congressman to instead speak out in defense of reproductive rights.
“You really hate the idea that you can’t always force women to be [breeding] stock and that some adults want to be responsible, don’t you? There is nothing sinister about knowing you don’t want more children when you have had enough,” tweeted user @LaurenDownSouth in response.
Bishop argued against several additional areas of the package, including the naming of a federal building after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He also appeared to criticize efforts aimed at boosting funding for wildlife conservation.
In addition, the congressman joined many GOP politicians in calling out a provision that would provide funding for a hiking trail named after former first lady Michelle Obama.
Newsweek reached out to the offices of Bishop and Pelosi for comment.
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