“I hope to work with Senator Murray to find common ground… The Senate is supposed to be the world’s great deliberative body… Enough secret meetings and last-minute backroom deals. The Budget Committee should do its job, as the law requires, in the full, open, and public light of day. I hope Senator Murray will make […]
“Real entitlement reform requires welfare reform. A modest reduction in growth, along with improved standards and work requirements, can produce substantial savings and ensure resources are targeted to those in need.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in response to comments by President Obama […]
“Experts on both sides of the aisle agree that we need a bare minimum of $4 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years… There is the potential to achieve one quarter of [these savings] through welfare reform… Amazingly, welfare—the largest budget item—has been largely exempt from discussions of fiscal reform. A modest reduction in growth, […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today about new October jobs figures and a Committee analysis that for every one person added to the jobs rolls since the President took office, 75 people were added to the food stamp rolls: “Simply put, the President’s policies […]
“All of [President Obama’s] signature policies were implemented—and $5 trillion was added to our debt—and it yielded only one-third of the growth it was supposed to deliver.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today about new figures that show annualized GDP growth so far this […]
“This is surely one of the greatest financial misrepresentations ever made to the American people. His budget achieves one-tenth of the pledged deficit reduction and, instead of cutting spending, he surges it dramatically… It is not only a question of leadership but a question of character—and duty. At this point, the greatest obstacle to preventing […]
“We have learned this week from the Congressional Research Service that the United States now spends more on welfare than any other federal program… [Yet] the Administration continues a vast array of controversial promotions to further expand enrollment, when the focus should be on expanding economic growth and opportunity… Such activities cannot be justified to […]
Ranking Member Sessions and the minority staff of the Senate Budget Committee requested from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) an overview of cumulative means-tested federal welfare spending in the United States in the most recent year for which data is available (fiscal year 2011). The results are staggering. CRS identified 83 overlapping federal welfare […]
“No longer should we measure compassion by how much money the government spends on poverty but by how many people we help to rise out of poverty… This is about more than rescuing our finances. It’s about creating a more optimistic future for millions of struggling Americans.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement today as the Committee released a new chart showing that since January 2009, for every 1 person who entered the labor force, 10 people were added to those not in the labor force. To view the chart, please click here. […]
In letter to Secretary Geithner, lawmakers write, “Just over a year [since the debt limit was last raised], we’ve already exhausted 87 percent of the $2.1 trillion increase in federal borrowing authority, averaging more than $4 billion in borrowing a day… With more complete information about when the debt limit may next be reached, we […]
“The report confirms that the United States has experienced its fourth straight deficit in excess of a trillion dollars… Disturbingly, the report from Secretary Geithner also repeats the fraudulent claim that the President’s February budget achieves $4 trillion in deficit reduction. But, according to the President’s own budget tables, his plan would increase debt nearly […]
“Your letter asserts that ‘we do not pressure any eligible person to accept benefits, nor is our goal to simply increase the number of program participants.’ But the content of USDA’s advertisements and promotion campaigns demonstrate otherwise… There is even a promotional guide suggesting those targeted for enrollment harm their communities by not accepting benefits… […]
“The greatest obstacle to preventing a debt crisis is a president who won’t tell the truth about his financial plan and a Senate Majority determined to avoid presenting one at all.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after a report from the Congressional Budget […]
“All we have to do is review the President’s own budget document, as submitted to Congress, and look up the figures in the tables provided… The biggest obstacle we face in preventing [a debt] crisis is a president who refuses tell the truth about his plan and a Democrat Senate that refuses to produce any […]
“Obama claims more than $4 trillion in deficit savings over the coming decade. But it you peel away accounting tricks and debatable claims on spending cuts, it’s more like $1.1 trillion. Republicans say it’s even less because of creative bookkeeping used to mask spending on Medicare reimbursements to doctors.” Associated Press, “Candidates’ deficit plans don’t […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after the Department of Homeland Security refused to provide Congress with basic numerical info about the enforcement of welfare restrictions for those seeking admittance to the United States: “Basic annual data on visa applications is easily and readily […]
President Obama has staked his entire fiscal reputation on the claim that he has “a balanced plan to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion.” As demonstrated recently, that $4 trillion claim, and the assertion that his plan would “pay down our debt,” is scandalously false. But the heart of the “balanced” argument is that the […]
“Your failure to respond to our oversight request is deeply troubling, and suggests that your Department is attempting to conceal information from the American people.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, was joined today by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Pat Roberts (R-KS), Ranking Members […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, today sent the following letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Jeffrey Zients. The letter requests that OMB provide an updated timeline to the American people and Congress for […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, today issued the following statement regarding the late release of an Obama Administration report detailing its plans for implementing sequestration that will take effect on January 2, 2013. This sequestration report from the […]
The law requires action by the President when Medicare’s finances are determined to be on an unsustainable course. In any year when the program’s Trustees issue a Medicare funding warning—defined as when more than 45 percent of Medicare outlays are expected to be paid for out of the Treasury’s general fund, which suggests impending insolvency—the […]
“By failing to outline any serious plan for the financial future of this country, Democrats who run the Senate and the White House have no basis on which to ask to be kept in their majority.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a statement today as State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano failed to meet the deadline to respond to an oversight letter from the senior Republicans on the Budget, Judiciary, Finance, and Agriculture Committees. In their letter, Ranking […]
“Not only have [Senate Democrats] failed to adopt a budget but, with America under threat of financial calamity, they have refused to even present a plan for public scrutiny.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, released the following […]
WASHINGTON—A bill authored by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, that would require transparency from the Obama Administration on its plan for implementing nearly $1 trillion in required sequestration cuts was signed into law by the President today, August 7, […]