Long story short, dims didn't earmark $396 Billion. It could have been used for anything. GOP DEMANDED IT GO TO VETERANS. Dims refused to budge. finally relented with the Toomey amendment. It was a hissyfit from the dims, so they couldn't use the money to go in to woke programs or any other pet projects. The amendment finally allowed $116 to the dims for their pets and not veterans. My view, still a loss.
Senate Passes Burn Pits Bill After Week-Long Fight Over Amendment Process
"The Senate passed the Honoring Our PACT Act 86-11, six days after Republicans held the legislation up in hopes of adding an amendment addressing billions in mandatory spending.
The bill authorizes $667 billion to go toward the care of veterans who contracted diseases from burn pits, as well as research on those diseases. Thirty-eight Republicans joined 48 Democrats in supporting the legislation, which passed the House 342-88 in July.
The Senate first passed the Honoring Our PACT ACT in June, 84-14, but slight changes in the House of Representatives required the upper chamber to take a second vote. Twenty-five Republicans switched their votes Wednesday to “no” after Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey called attention to a provision that would create $396 billion in mandatory spending, which he claimed would “likely will be filled with spending totally unrelated to veterans.”
Toomey proposed an amendment that would direct more than $116 billion and make the rest discretionary, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refused to allow votes on amendments before Tuesday. Toomey’s amendment failed 47-48."