Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday announced his opposition to an omnibus appropriations spending bill to keep the government operating into 2011, signaling heavy Republican resistance on the matter in the lame-duck session.

The alternative to an omnibus is a continuing resolution that would maintain funding for the government at current levels for a period of time determined the House and Senate. The Kentucky Republican revealed his opposition to an omnibus bill during his opening floor remarks.

“One thing we’ll need to do before we leave this year is fund the government, because Democrats didn’t pass a single appropriations bill this year,” McConnell said. “So now they’ll try to mop up in the 11th hour with an omnibus spending bill that covers all of it. This is one more sign they aren’t learning many lessons from the election.”
 
McConnell continued: “If this election showed us anything, it’s that Americans don’t want Congress passing massive trillion-dollar bills that have been thrown together behind closed doors. They want us to do business differently. So I won’t be supporting an omnibus spending bill.”