Rep. Obernolte offers motion for responsible spending on Budget Committee’s reconciliation report for $4.3 trillion spending package

During today’s U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee markup of the over $4.3 trillion partisan reconciliation package, U.S. Congressman Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) asked the committee to include his Finding Federal Savings Committee Act in the committee’s reconciliation report. The addition was rejected on a party-line vote, but would have created a select committee in the House and Senate to reduce wasteful federal spending and make federal programs more efficient.

WATCH REP. OBERNOLTE’S HEARING REMARKS HERE

“The federal budget deficit is projected to be over $2.3T this year alone. It will be substantially higher should the bill passed by this committee today become law. Last year our national debt exceeded the size of our total economy for the first time since World War II, and the Congressional Budget Office reports that it will continue to grow at an alarming rate unless action is taken. Until we learn to set aside partisanship and agree on the need to control federal spending, this problem will only become worse,” said Rep. Obernolte.

Rep. Obernolte’s Motion to Instruct was modeled on H. Res. 263, his Finding Federal Savings Committee Resolution, which was introduced as his second bill as a member of the House of Representatives in March. The legislation would create a bipartisan committee similar to the Anti-Appropriations Committee established after World War II to identify underperforming and nonessential federal programs and deliver reports to the House of Representatives recommending their modification or possible elimination. The adjustment of these programs would not only significantly decrease federal spending by reducing the size of the federal government but would also help to reduce the budget deficit and, by extension, the national debt.

The reconciliation bill considered in the House Budget Committee on Saturday is currently slated to spend over $4,300,000,000,000 ($4.3 trillion) federal taxpayer dollars – higher than the initially proposed $3.5 trillion – and includes over $2 trillion in tax increases. It is estimated that the bill will add over $2 trillion in debt and cost significantly more than its initial overhead costs over time as a result of significant new government spending.

The national debt currently exceeds $28 trillion. Rep. Obernolte opposed a bill on Tuesday to suspend the debt ceiling without any provisions to pay down the debt. Watch his full remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives here.