Congress is on a Christmas spending spree
Now is not the time to throw gasoline on the Yule log
Below are highlights from our op-ed, titled “Congress is on a Christmas spending spree” that appeared in the Washington Examiner on December 13, 2023.
Congress is considering rushing through more than $100 billion in new emergency spending.
Just last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) held a key procedural vote over a massive supplemental spending package aimed at Ukraine and Israel. A last-minute emergency spending spree would contribute to America’s mounting budget challenge and erode trust in the government’s ability to be a responsible fiscal steward.
As we argue in our latest op-ed,
At a time when federal deficits clock in at $2 trillion annually and with interest rates at historic highs, Congress should avoid complicity with President Joe Biden’s supplemental spending gamesmanship. Topping off federal budgets under the guise of emergency spending should not be viewed in isolation. It is part of a time-honored tradition of hoodwinking taxpayers with false claims of urgency.
Any emergency proposal should be limited to respond to necessary, sudden, urgent, unforeseen, and nonpermanent events. Too often, Congress tacks on excess spending out of sheer convenience.
Better, Congress could establish firm fiscal rules to rein in excessive emergency spending. Legislators should offset new emergency spending by reducing spending in lower priority areas, immediately or at least in the out-years. Such a mechanism would commit Congress to forward-looking budgetary planning and reduce the temptation to use emergencies as a pretext for blowing through statutory spending limits.
Congress should use emergency designations responsibly and offset any new emergency spending with cuts in other areas. Otherwise, legislators will continue to abuse emergency spending at the expense of the nation’s fiscal health. Now is not the time to throw gasoline on the Yule log.
Read the full piece here.