Lawmakers Agree US Must Get Finances ‘Back on Track,’ but Not on How It’s Done

House Budget Committee Ranking Member Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) (L) speaks with Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) during a markup meeting on Capitol Hill on Sept. 20, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Amid the fiscal uncertainty over the growing U.S. debt and deficit, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have found rare agreement on the need for remedial action—but not on the specifics of what that action should be.

A Congressional Budget Office report released on Oct. 10 showed the federal budget deficit was $1.7 trillion in fiscal year 2023—up 23 percent from 2022.

The national debt has topped $33 trillion and continues to climb.

And Congress’s continued failure to address the problem is putting future generations at risk, according to House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).

“It’s not right; it’s immoral,” he said at a committee hearing on Oct. 19. “And I don’t think anybody on this committee, Democrat or Republican, thinks it’s acceptable.”

The focus of the hearing was to assess whether a bipartisan fiscal commission should be created to explore solutions to the problem.

As both current and former members of Congress sounded off on the matter, some unusual, bipartisan alliances emerged.

Getting ‘Back on Track’

One proponent of forming a bipartisan commission is former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who also served in the House. He said he believed that a committee grounded in honesty and bipartisanship could work as others have in the past.

“I think the first step of any commission is to really just tell the American people the truth about what’s going on,” said Mr. Portman, who previously led the Office of Management and Budget.

“They know that something’s not right. They know the current trajectory is unsustainable. But they’re looking for an honest assessment and an honest dialogue about the way forward—not a partisan one, but one that is right down the middle.”

One potential model that Mr. Portman cited for a commission was the 1981 Greenspan Commission, which led to major Social Security reforms that extended the program’s solvency for decades.

A commission, he said, should do a “top-to-bottom” review of spending and reexamine whether the federal government should be covering those costs. He also said that involving outside experts and submitting a report during the “lame-duck” session of Congress after the 2024 election could help to alleviate political pressures and partisanship.

Former Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) was like-minded, stressing that the nation’s fiscal responsibility should matter to everyone.

“Of course, deficits and debt matter,” he said. “They may not matter immediately, but over time, it is clear and compelling that they matter.”

Lamenting the political division on Capitol Hill, he contended that a bipartisan commission “may be the best shot we have” at getting the United States’ fiscal affairs “back on track.”

“The parties’ divide appears intractable, just as our fiscal trajectory seems unsustainable,” he said. “But all parties can be part of the solution. I believe a bipartisan commission is the most promising opportunity to begin this work.”

Proverbial Insanity

As with those who supported forming a commission, there was similar bipartisanship among those who opposed the idea.

One member of that group was former Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), House Budget Committee chairman during the last Congress, who contended that the proposed commission was the “proverbial definition of insanity—doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

Noting his participation in the 2018 Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform, he said that, for him, that effort had only highlighted the lack of desire among his colleagues to address the problem.

“If members of Congress are not willing ... to muster the determination and courage to take on our fiscal challenges, even the best ideas will never be implemented,” Mr. Yarmuth said.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), admittedly to his own surprise, agreed with Mr. Yarmuth’s evaluation.

“He’s either gotten a lot wiser since he left Congress, or I’ve gotten a lot dumber. But one way or another, we’ve had a meeting of the minds,” Mr. McClintock said, stressing that no commission could work without people “willing to make hard decisions.”

“There’s no substitute for leadership and courage and common sense. The budget process only works when the House leadership is willing to exercise that courage and common sense and make fiscal responsibility an absolute priority and insist on it throughout the House.”

A commission shouldn’t be necessary, Mr. McClintock said, as “the ultimate bipartisan commission in this nation is called the Congress. And this Congress, imperfect as it is, is where these decisions must be made. Passing the buck is simply not the answer because the buck stops here.”

Budget negotiations in the House are currently at a standstill as the chamber struggles to elect a new speaker.

Under the continuing resolution that Congress passed last month, members have until Nov. 17 to pass a 2024 budget and avert a partial government shutdown.