House GOP's Budget Dysfunction: It's Contagious!
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Another way to measure dysfunction is not passing a budget, which is required by law." [1/14/16]
Speaker Paul Ryan, on not passing a budget: "The United States Congress has a moral — and legal — obligation to propose and pass budgets…" [6/8/11]
But now, House Republicans' feverish failure to govern has quickly spread to the other side of the Capitol: Senate Republicans announced today that they too will punt action on the budget – ensuring that Republicans will fail to meet the April 1st statutory deadline for the Senate Budget Committee to report a budget resolution.
CQ:
Senate Budget Chairman Michael B. Enzi ispostponing a markup of a fiscal 2017 budget resolution…
The Wyoming Republican's decision comes at a time when GOP leaders in both chambers are facing a political environment that has conspired to make passing a budget resolution more challenging than during any time in recent memory. House leaders under pressure from conservatives and defense hawks are struggling to adopt a budget resolution, using this week's recess to ponder a plan that was laid out for the GOP conference last week.
People with knowledge of the Budget Committee's deliberations, speaking on background, said the delay means the panel will miss the statutory April 1 target for the panel to report out a budget, a point confirmed by a statement from the committee. The delay also opens the door for criticism from Democrats, while providing an opportunity for other senators to offer their own budgets
Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee said Monday they would delay consideration of a budget this month, the latest example of GOP struggles on both ends of the Capitol to craft a fiscal blueprint this year.
The move comes as Republicans in the House are laboring to come to a consensus on a budget, and boosts the odds that one or both chambers will skip doing a budget altogether this year. That would be an embarrassing outcome for GOP leaders who pledged to write a budget and return Congress to a functioning institution…
In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan faces sharp resistance from conservatives to moving a leadership-backed budget. House Republicans have already had to delay their own consideration of a budget amid the party's divisions on spending.
…skipping a budget would be a major blow to Ryan, a former Budget Committee chairman, in his first year as speaker.
Last week, House Republican Leaders presented their colleagues with an outrageously callous budget blueprint – proposing $6 trillion in cuts and putting initiatives like Medicare, Medicaid and Food Stamps at risk – and even that wasn't brutal enough for radical conservatives hell-bent on advancing their toxic agenda. It's no wonder Congressional Republicans are having second thoughts about putting their special interest priorities on paper for all to see.
As Congressional Republicans continue to descend further into budget chaos, House Democrats will keep pushing for a plan that creates jobs and grows the paychecks of hard-working Americans.