On March 16, 2017, the White House released its budget, “America First – A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” This “skinny budget” increases spending for defense by $54 billion and cuts an equal amount of money for duplicative and wasteful programs. The budget calls also cuts burdensome regulations and calls for better management of federal programs.
The Debt Ceiling: Extraordinary Measures and Where to Find Them
On March 7, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced that if the debt ceiling was not raised or extended before March 16, the Treasury will be unable to borrow funds for standard operating procedures. In order to avoid breaching the debt ceiling, the Treasury will be forced to take extraordinary measures so that it […]
Flake, et al. to POTUS: Veto Earmarks!
On Tuesday, March 7, 2017, at a time when the U.S. House of Representatives is contemplating a return to the “insidious” practice of “earmarking,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), joined by a handful of his colleagues, wrote to President Donald J. Trump urging the nation’s chief executive to veto any legislation that includes earmarks. According […]
Earmark Effort Demonstrates Tone-Deafness About Swamp Drainage
On November 16, 2016, eight days after the momentous election of Donald J. Trump as president (with his promise to “drain the swamp”), House Republicans inexplicably contemplated the restoration of earmarks. Fortunately, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) forestalled a vote during a meeting of the Republican Conference, promising instead a thoughtful and transparent discussion about the pros and cons of earmarks during the first quarter of 2017. That date appears to have been moved to the third quarter, following the announcement by House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) that he will hold public hearings and issue recommendations by July 4, 2017.
Mulvaney Faces Uphill Battle on Defense Spending
Incoming Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) will be tasked with developing plans to cut trillions of dollars in spending, based on the ideas being floated by the Trump transition team. While there are always challenges to implement such proposals, mostly from members of Congress, any suggestions to cut defense spending will face a particularly tough fight. However, Director Mulvaney should be a good fit for this effort. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he established a track record of pushing to reduce both domestic and defense spending.
How to Make the Budget Great Again
With the beginning of a new administration, the best and brightest in leadership are often selected to advise the President. House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, M.D. (R-Ga.), who has been nominated as the secretary of Health and Human Services, fits that description. He will not only be an excellent secretary; he has been an exceptional chairman of the committee. In December, 2016, Chairman Price proposed a series of changes to the budget process. His reforms, which will help return the budget process to regular order, include:
Statement by CAGW President Tom Schatz on the Beginning of the 115th Congress
CAGW President Tom Schatz released the following statement on the start of the 115th Congress: Taxpayers have good reason to be optimistic for the New Year. For the first time, the nation will have a president and cabinet with substantial experience managing large, complex organizations; and there’s nothing bigger and more complicated than the federal […]
Power of the Purse and Budget Process Reform
Since the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) was first passed, Congress has been able to pass the 12 appropriations bills on time on only three occasions; the most recent was in 1997. Although the CBA has been amended several times, the budget process remains as broken as it is confusing. It allows members of […]
Lame-Duck Session, 114th Congress: The Victors, the Vanquished, and the Un-Inaugurated
For anyone unfamiliar with the patois of politics, the term “lame duck” may seem like a bit of an odd duck, rhetorically speaking. As defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the more common understanding of this phrase is “an elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the […]
Show Me the Budget
Americans might fondly remember many experiences from 1996, including watching “Independence Day” and “Jerry Maguire,” reading about the cloning of Dolly the sheep, dancing to the Macarena, and surfing new websites such as Ask Jeeves and eBay.