The $2.3 trillion bill Congress just passed is longer than all 7 Harry Potter books combined

Members of Congress faced a "familiar year-end conundrum" on Monday, The Associated Press reports: "A bill too big to fail, and also too big to read." First the House, then the Senate passed a $900 billion coronavirus pandemic relief bill and $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package with large majorities Monday night, just hours after the legislation was released. "Delivering virus aid to the country required a leap of faith for lawmakers as they cast their votes, practically sight unseen," for a monster 5,593-page bill that the Senate Historical Office says is the longest successful piece of legislation they could find on record, AP notes.

"I think if we provide everyone a paper copy we would have to destroy an entire forest," quipped House Rules Committee Chair James McGovern (D-Mass.). That may be a slight exaggeration, but Politico's Kyle Cheney found a way to drive home just how long the legislation is, in terms many Americans will understand.

What's in the colossal bill? A lot. Throwing everything in a year-end package has become an annual holiday tradition in Congress — "it's why such bills are often called 'Christmas trees,' trimmed with legislative ornaments," AP explains. There's comprehensive clean energy legislation, a massive overhaul of FAA aircraft certification, a large water resources measure, revised copyright rules. two new Smithsonian museums, and an entire section on Tibet, including official new U.S. policy on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

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"And then there were the smaller items stowed away in the thousands of pages — important to some lawmakers, but unlikely to win coveted floor time in a freestanding bill," AP reports. "One section repealed a variety of little-known criminal penalties for minor violations, including the transportation of the water hyacinths and the use of the Swiss coat of arms," plus "the unauthorized use of the 4-H Club emblem, the 'Smokey Bear' character, the 'Woodsy Owl' character, or 'The Golden Eagle Insignia.'"