Chairman’s Press

Their Budget Never Balances—Ever The House budget balances in ten years, but, like Senate Democrats, the White House says their budget never balances—ever. $8.2 Trillion in New Debt Accounting for the cost of eliminating the sequester and removing the budget gimmicks, net deficit reduction is only $119 billion. Additional deficit increase in FY2013: $61 billion […]

According to what has been publicly reported about the Gang of Eight’s forthcoming immigration bill, there appears to be a major flaw that could allow millions of illegal immigrants to access federal welfare benefits and poverty programs. Specifically, there is nothing in the framework to apply federal public charge law to those in the country illegally before they are granted legal status.

“If the American people take nothing else away from this debate, it should be that the party running this Senate, spending your dollars, refuses to ever balance the federal budget… [Their plan’s] surging debt and taxes will crush American workers, close American factories, and depress American wages… This budget effectively shows no concern for Americans […]

“Now that the Senate majority has written a plan we can finally begin this conversation: Do we balance the budget and grow the economy for all Americans? Or do we continue to enrich the bureaucracy at the expense of the people?” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the […]

“This will dramatically accelerate the insolvency of our entitlement programs and is unfair to American workers and taxpayers.”  WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement tonight following a 43–56 vote on his amendment to ensure that illegal immigrants cannot access free and taxpayer-funded health care if they […]

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement after Senate Democrats voted against his motion to recommit the Murray budget to committee with instructions to find a way to balance the budget in 10 years. Only Sen. Joe Manchin joined with Republicans in support of balancing the federal […]

When the Budget Committee minority staff began analyzing Chairman Patty Murray’s FY 2014 budget last week, they were shocked to discover that the plan called for not $975 billion in tax increases—the amount that the majority proudly and openly claimed—but instead $1.5 trillion in tax hikes.

“As you may know, the Senate [is scheduled to] vote on the budget resolution. To assist Senators in their work on the budget, and as well as work on future government funding measures, it would be helpful to have certain additional details about the food stamp program as well as the 14 other nutrition-support programs […]

During the mark-up of what would be the first Senate budget in four years, Republicans on the Budget Committee offered several key amendments to balance the budget, promote pro-growth tax reform, and return to the sound principles of the bipartisan 1996 welfare reform agreement. Unfortunately, the panel's Democrat majority unanimously opposed each of these efforts.
"Senate Democrats’ claim of $1.85 trillion in deficit reduction is based on several egregious accounting gimmicks. The biggest is that the majority amazingly fails to account for the cost of eliminating the sequester—a $1.2 trillion sleight-of-hand. In other words, they don’t replace the sequester and then offer $1.85 trillion in deficit reduction; the $1.85 trillion is the sequester replacement—wiping out most of the alleged new savings."

“This is the kind of meeting we should have been having all along—public, open process… [but] I remain deeply disappointed that the majority’s proposal not only fails to change our debt course, but actually increases spending over the next 10 years—including $162 billion of increased spending next year alone… What is particularly troubling is that […]

After Four Years, Senate Democrats Stunningly Fail To Identify Reforms, Enriching The Bureaucracy At Workers’ Expense

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after his initial review of the Murray budget which, if enacted, would be the first Senate Democratic budget in four years: “Four years have passed since the last time Senate’s Democrat majority attempted to pass a budget. Four […]

“Is it really possible that after four years, the majority has failed to identify any reforms? That all we have is just a tax-and-spend budget that makes no alteration to our dangerous debt course? Does the majority believe the government is perfect and requires no reform? … Is the Budget Committee of the United States […]

"After four years of defying their statutory responsibility to lay out a financial plan for the nation, Senate Democrats have relented and announced they will draft and introduce a budget this year. The nation’s debt has climbed to $16.7 trillion since then—greater than the size of the entire economy—so it is essential that their budget be an honest one that changes our debt course, not a plan full of gimmicks."

“We need to grow the economy—not the government… Government has never been bigger or more out of control. They say there is no problem with waste, fraud, and abuse; they say the problem is you; they say you are not sending them enough money; they say they have wisely spent every penny. So, you must […]

“We are deeply troubled by the prospects of subsidizing another costly, wasteful, and risky high-speed rail project, particularly when our nation is facing a debt crisis that threatens the well-being of the current and future generations of Americans… We would urge the Administration to reject the XpressWest loan application and to direct its available RRIF […]

“The Director must lead an effort to make government leaner and more efficient, and must be committed to providing honest and accurate information on the dangerous financial condition of our country.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding President Obama’s nomination of Sylvia Burwell […]

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding newly released data from the State Department demonstrating that only 0.0033 percent of net applications for admission to the United States were denied on “public charge” grounds in 2011, despite the federal law prohibiting admission of any […]

“[Federal] workers know firsthand how much waste and inefficiency exists in the government. Our Budget Committee office will look for a way to solicit federal employees to send suggestions for how to save money in their departments, agencies, and divisions. What is better? To furlough someone or to empower them to make their office more […]

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered remarks today at a Budget Committee hearing scheduled by the majority to make the case for additional federal “investments.” Sessions’ remarks, as prepared, follow: “Thank you, Chairman Murray. This hearing deals with an important subject: Government spending and long term economic growth. […]

“This was the strategy: offer a plan that does nothing to alter our dangerous debt course while pretending the opposite. Then, once you’ve done that, attack anyone who dares to reduce the size of the bureaucracy. Attack anyone who suggests Washington is too powerful… It is time that we pointed out that the establishment they […]

“Normally, and necessarily, the OMB director is the single office that drives efficiency and demands accountability on behalf of the President and the American people. In that aspect of his job, and in this time of surging debt, I rate Mr. Lew’s performance as an F…  [It] was decided [that] Mr. Lew would go before […]

It is an explicit and unambiguous tenet in federal law that those granted entry into the U.S. must be able to support themselves financially. But the Obama Administration has aggressively defied this strict federal statute.­ What are new promises worth when existing law is unilaterally waived? Last year, the Ranking Members of Budget, Finance, Judiciary, […]

Alarmed by the unsustainable growth of Medicare’s unfunded obligations and the direct threat this posed to seniors, Congress in 2003 enacted a legal requirement that the President submit legislation if the Medicare Trustees issue a funding warning for the program as part of their annual report. This provision of federal law is commonly known as […]

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement today regarding the long-delayed response from the Department of Homeland Security about the Administration’s apparent waiving of federal law with respect to welfare restrictions for immigrants. The response indicated that, in 2012, not a single immigrant was identified by the federal […]

“Since President Johnson’s Great Society, the federal government has spent $15 trillion dollars in the war on poverty. Yet the poverty rate has remained largely unchanged… Welfare is now the single largest item in the federal budget. It is larger than Medicare, larger than defense, larger than Social Security… Today, like in 1996, opponents of […]

“It has been four years since the Democrat-led Senate has produced a budget as the law requires… I am glad that the Senate majority has relented and is going to do a budget this year, else I wonder what our Committee might find itself having to do—whether we would even need the Committee. So we […]

Without a course correction, out-of-control spending will fuel a $9 trillion increase in the gross debt, further slowing the economy and limiting opportunity for millions of Americans.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Committee’s oversight of Jack Lew’s role in the Administration’s defiance of Medicare law, as well as other controversies surrounding his nomination: “Jack Lew must never be Treasury Secretary. As director of the Office of Management and […]