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• Trump blasted McConnell over Congress’ recent passage of a government funding bill.
• The former president claimed that Democrats “must have something really big” on McConnell.
• McConnell, along with 17 other Republican senators, voted in favor of the bill.  

Former President Donald Trump on Monday ripped into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over Congress’ recent passage of a sweeping bill that keeps the government funded through September.

“The Marxist Democrats must have something really big on Mitch McConnell in order to get him and some of his friendly ‘Republican’ Senators to pass the horrendous ‘All Democrat, All the Way’ OMINOUS Bill,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, referring to the so-called omnibus package.

The House and Senate last week approved the nearly $1.7 trillion bill to avert a government shutdown before the holiday recess. The legislation includes $772 billion for non-defense domestic programs and $858 billion for defense funding — increases from the current levels — in addition to $45 billion in aid for Ukraine and $40 billion in emergency disaster assistance, among several other provisions.

Both chambers passed the bill with bipartisan support. In the Senate, 18 Republicans, including McConnell, voted in favor of it. The Kentucky Republican hailed the bill’s increase in defense spending, while still calling the legislation “imperfect.”

“If Senate Republicans controlled this chamber, we would have handled the appropriations process differently from top to bottom,” McConnell said last week. “But given the reality of where we stand today, senators have two options this week: We will either give our Armed Forces the resources and certainty that they need, or we will deny it to them.”

Yet Trump, along with a slew of House Republicans, blasted the massive bill, arguing that a deal shouldn’t have been reached until after the GOP took the House majority in January. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sharply criticized the bill last week, calling it a “monstrosity” and “shameful.” Only nine House Republicans voted for it. 

“If the Old Crow waited just 10 days, the Republican Majority in the House could have made the ‘Ominous’ Bill MUCH, MUCH, MUCH BETTER,” Trump wrote of McConnell on his social media platform. “Just another win for the Democrats, Mitch, that wouldn’t have happened if ‘Trump’ were President!”

On social media, the former president also swiped at McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who served as Trump’s former transportation secretary. “It is also a massive giveaway & capitulation to CHINA, making COCO CHOW so happy!” Trump wrote, using a racial slur.

Trump’s attacks come after McConnell recently criticized the former president over the GOP’s losses in the 2022 midterm elections. McConnell, who’s largely avoided weighing in on the former president since he left office, said that Trump’s “political clout has diminished” in an NBC News interview published last week. 

McConnell also told NBC that he vowed to “actively look for quality candidates” to endorse in the 2024 elections, pinning blame on Trump for promoting Republican candidates in key Senate races this year who ended up losing.

A spokesperson for McConnell did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.

Iranian authorities ordered a Dubai-bound flight to land on Monday, barring family members of an outspoken Iranian football icon from leaving the country and accusing them of taking part in anti-government protests.

The wife and a daughter of Ali Daei were removed from the Mahan Air flight after it was ordered to land on Iran’s Kish Island, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) off Dubai in the Persian Gulf, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The flight originated in Tehran.

In response to protests against the country’s clerical leadership, the Islamic Republic is widening a crackdown on dissent that began in mid-September over the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She was arrested by Iran’s so-called morality police for supposedly breaching strict Islamic dress codes.

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Daei, who retired from football in 2007, has publicly voiced his support for protests. He is one of the country’s most-celebrated players and has emerged as an increasingly influential figure in Iran.

IRNA said Daei and his family engaged in “backing anti-revolutionary groups and rioters, and calling for strikes,” adding that Daei’s wife and daughter were free to return to Tehran. Separately, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Daei’s wife has been barred from leaving the country but had “nullified the ban” through illegal channels and had managed to board the flight.

Read more: The Women of Iran Are TIME’s 2022 Heroes of the Year

Authorities shut down a jewelry shop and a restaurant owned by Daei, following social-media posts that both properties would close in solidarity during three days of protests and strikes in early December, according to state media. He previously boycotted the World Cup and stayed at home to show solidarity with the demonstrators.

Iran this month hanged two men in connection with protests, the country’s first known executions from among thousands arrested in the unrest. Human rights groups say more than 400 people have been killed in the government’s crackdown on protests while dozens are in danger of being executed.

Iran’s supreme court on Dec. 24 upheld a ruling to execute Mohammad Ghobadlou, a 22-year-old man accused of allegedly running over and killing a police officer in the town of Parand near Tehran, Tasnim reported.

Holiday sales rose this year as American spending remained resilient during the critical shopping season despite surging prices on everything from food to rent, according to one measure.

Holiday sales rose 7.6%, a slower pace than the 8.5% increase from a year earlier when shoppers began spending the money they had saved during the early part of the pandemic, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards.

Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected a 7.1% increase. The data released Monday excludes the automotive industry and is not adjusted for inflation, which has eased somewhat but remains painfully high.

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U.S. sales between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, a period that is critical for retailers, were fueled by spending at restaurants and on clothing.

By category, clothing rose 4.4%, while jewelry and electronics dipped roughly 5%. Online sales jumped 10.6% from a year ago and in-person spending rose 6.8%. Department stores registered a modest 1% increase over 2021.

“This holiday retail season looked different than years past,” Steve Sadove, the former CEO and chairman at Saks and a senior advisor for Mastercard, said in a prepared statement. “Retailers discounted heavily, but consumers diversified their holiday spending to accommodate rising prices and an appetite for experiences and festive gatherings post-pandemic.”

Some of the increase reflected the impact of higher prices across the board.

Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity, and Americans have remained resilient ever since inflation first spiked almost 18 months ago. Cracks have begun to show, however, as higher prices for basic necessities take up an increasingly large share of everyone’s take-home pay.

Inflation has retreated from the four-decade high it reached this summer, but it’s still sapping the spending power of consumers. Prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago, down from a peak of 9.1% in June.

Overall spending has slowed from the pandemic-infused splurges and shifted increasingly toward necessities like food, while spending on electronics, furniture, new clothes and other non-necessities has faded. Many shoppers been trading down to private label goods, which are typically less expensive than national brands. They’ve been going to cheaper stores like dollar chains and big box stores like Walmart.

Consumers also waited for deals. Stores expected more procrastinators to hit stores in the last few days before Christmas compared with a year ago when people began shopping earlier due to a global disruption of the supply chain that created thousands of product shortages.

“Consumers are trying to spread out their budget, and they are evaluating and shopping at different stores,” said Katie Thompson, the lead of consultancy Kearney’s Consumer Institute.

In November, shoppers cut back sharply on retail spending compared with the previous month. Retail sales fell 0.6% from October to November after a sharp 1.3% rise the previous month, the government said in mid-December. Sales fell at furniture, electronics, and home and garden stores.

A broader picture of how Americans spent their money arrives next month when the National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, comes out with its combined two-month results based on November-December sales figures from the Commerce Department.

The trade group expects holiday sales growth will slow to a range of 6% to 8%, compared with the blistering 13.5% growth of a year ago.

Analysts will also be dissecting fourth-quarter financial results from major retailers in February.