OPINION:
Uncle Sam’s authority to spend your money expires next month, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are desperate to keep the cash flowing. Without a spending blueprint, the nonessential functions of the federal government will temporarily cease on March 14.
Complicating matters, the federal government will hit its credit limit sometime in the spring, risking a default on America’s obligations. The Republican leadership intends to roll its solution to both problems into a single bill.
“It’s something we’ve been spending a lot of time on, because we’re going to be delivering some of the biggest commitments that were made during the election,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said at a press conference Tuesday. “Some of the biggest things that President Trump wants to accomplish are included in our reconciliation plan.”
Getting the package through the House won’t be easy. The precarious Republican majority rests on two votes. It takes only a pair of troublemakers within the fractious caucus to sink any compromise between the big spenders and the fiscal hawks.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to make it work. “The things we’re going to be doing are things that are great for every American, and we hope Democrats come along with us,” the Louisiana Republican said.
That’s unlikely. Democrats would sit back and enjoy the spectacle of their opponents stumbling into a government shutdown, comfortable in the knowledge that their media allies will blame “right-wing extremists” for the mild discomfort this might cause.
Unlike previous shutdown showdowns, this one isn’t just for show. Mr. Trump wields new tools to keep intraparty factions in check and drive genuine change. He can use the bully pulpit to stop Republican firebrands from sabotaging negotiations over the debt ceiling hike. Thanks to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he can expose exactly where each federal dollar goes, curbing the party’s wastrels.
Good luck defending the Agriculture Department’s funding for Central American gender assessment consultant services, Brazil forest and gender consultant services and the Women in Forest Carbon Initiative mentorship program.
The speaker intends to pass a bill codifying DOGE, ensuring the waste-busting team’s work has a lasting effect. “What Elon and the DOGE effort is doing right now is what Congress has been unable to do because the agencies have hidden some of this from us,” Mr. Johnson acknowledged.
The president told reporters assembled in the Oval Office that he supports the idea. “If we do need a vote, I think we’d get a very easy vote because we have a track record now. We’ve found billions of dollars of abuse, incompetence and corruption.”
Parsimonious Republicans must realize the worst outcome isn’t a vote to raise the debt ceiling. A continuing resolution would lock in the obscene Biden-era expenditures, perpetuating the $2 trillion annual deficits.
The president needs a budget that reflects the new anti-waste consensus and stops obstructionist federal judges from taking control of the public purse.
Congress must also reclaim its legislative authority with the REINS Act. This proposal requires congressional approval for agency decisions with an economic impact of more than $100 million. If enacted, rogue bureaucrats would no longer be able to impose their will on important matters of public policy. While it passed the House in 2023, it was blocked in the Democratic Senate.
Republicans now hold both chambers of Congress and the White House. They can’t afford to squander the opportunity to institutionalize critical reforms and bring America’s fiscal house back in order.
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