Congress’ Budget Process Is Broken. Here’s One Idea for Fixing It.
If you made a list of all the reasons why federal borrowing has spiraled out of control in recent years, the utter failure of Congress to pass a true budget would certainly rank near, or at, the very top.
Regular Reason readers know this fact well: Since 1996, Congress has never—yes, not even once—passed a budget on time and in full. It’s probably not a coincidence that the late ’90s were also the last time the federal budget was anywhere close to balancing.
In place of a complete budget, Congress has for decades relied upon continuing resolutions and omnibus bills. Usually, those become “must-pass” pieces of legislation that force lawmakers into up-or-down votes on the eve of some major deadline—like Christmas or a potential government shutdown—leaving no room for the necessary debating, prioritizing, and deciding that is fundamental to managing spending levels. It’s a bad process and it predictably produces bad outcomes.
In theory, Congress could fix this anytime it wanted by reverting to so-called regular order and following the budget process codified by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. That’s a good idea! It’s something that congressional factions including the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and centrist Problem Solvers Caucus have both suggested.
In practice, however, it seems obvious that Congress lacks the incentives to do so. Maybe that’s because leadership refuses to relinquish control over spending decisions to committees. Maybe it’s because individual members of Congress care more about going viral than governing. Regardless, here we are in the 28th straight year without a budget and the national debt is approaching $35 trillion.
If Congress won’t abide by the old budget rules, maybe what it needs are some new ones. That h
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