Ranking Member Press
Chairman Whitehouse Statement on CBO Baseline
Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement following the annual release of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook: “Today’s CBO baseline confirms that Democrats’ investments to jumpstart our recovery and promote a stronger economy worked: CBO is now projecting faster economic growth, lower deficits, and lower unemployment. “Despite coordinated obstruction from the fossil fuel industry and … Continue Reading
01.31.24
WHITEHOUSE: Expanding Housing Affordability Drives Economic Growth
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing, titled “A Blueprint for Prosperity: Expanding Housing Affordability.” Chairman Whitehouse’s remarks, as prepared for delivery: Welcome back, Senator Johnson. This morning, we’ll discuss how investments in expanding housing affordability can drive economic growth. For decades, the United States has faced a housing affordability pr… Continue Reading
01.24.24
WHITEHOUSE: Warming Oceans Pose Economy-Wide Risks
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing,titled “Warming Seas, Cooling Economy: How the Climate Crisis Threatens Ocean Industries.” Chairman Whitehouse’s remarks, as prepared for delivery: These hearings on the economic and budgetary costs of climate change press the point that caring about debt and deficits requires caring about climate change. From creeping climate inf… Continue Reading
01.10.24
WHITEHOUSE: Climate change is threatening the municipal bond market
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing, titled “Investing in the Future: Safeguarding Municipal Bonds from Climate Risk.” Chairman Whitehouse’s remarks, as prepared for delivery: Welcome to the first hearing of the Senate Budget Committee in 2024 and our twelfth hearing on the looming fiscal dangers of climate change. In the year since we started, climate economic warn… Continue Reading
01.05.24
CBO Report Shows Devastating Impact of Republicans Walking Away from Debt Limit Agreement
This afternoon, CBO released a letter that showed just how devastating sequestration cuts to nondefense discretionary (NDD) programs would be under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) if funding remained at the amount specified in the current continuing resolution (CR) and Republicans are allowed to walk away from the bipartisan spending deal. Because the analysis is based only on the statutory caps, it excludes the additional $69 billion in NDD resources (the “side deal”) that the debt limit … Continue Reading
12.19.23
Whitehouse Calls Out Republican Hypocrisy on Deficit Reduction
Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, released a letter calling out Congressional Republicans for their hypocrisy when it comes to deficit reduction. The letter, responding to a letter dated December 5, 2023, from Ranking Member Grassley and Republican members of the Budget Committee, highlights Republicans’ support for budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, their lack of proposals to address Medicare’s and Social Security’s impend… Continue Reading
12.07.23
Senate Budget Committee Digs into Impact of Private Equity Ownership in America’s Hospitals
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today opened a bipartisan investigation into the effects of private equity ownership on our nation’s hospitals. Senators Whitehouse and Grassley sent letters to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of Leonard Green & Partners, Prospect Medical Holdings, Medical Properties Trust, Apollo Global Management, Lifepoint Health, and Ottumwa Regional Health Center, a for-profit … Continue Reading
12.05.23
Credit Suisse Reinstates Independent Ombudsperson to Review Nazi-Linked Accounts as a Result of Budget Committee Investigation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As a result of an ongoing bipartisan Senate Budget Committee investigation, Credit Suisse has agreed to reinstate Independent Ombudsperson Neil Barofsky to oversee the bank’s internal investigation into its historic servicing of previously undisclosed Nazi-linked accounts. Credit Suisse was approached in 2020 with credible information that it had held potential Nazi-linked accounts that had notbeen previously identified or disclosed. The bank retained Neil Barofsky of Jenner… Continue Reading
11.30.23
Whitehouse Launches Investigation into Citizens Property Insurance Amid Questions About Company’s Long-Term Solvency
Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, launched an investigation into Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The Committee seeks documents and information about Citizens’ plans to address increased underwriting losses from climate-related extreme weather events and other disasters such as tropical cyclones, intense precipitation events, droughts, heatwaves, sea level rise, and wildfires. This probe builds on two previous, and ongo… Continue Reading
11.15.23
Whitehouse Slams Republicans for Again Seeking to Reward Wealthy Tax Cheats
Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) insisted the Senate vote on his amendment to cut $30 billion from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and 15 percent from all discretionary spending except veterans and defense as a condition of keeping the government open. A new, informal estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found the IRS rescissions would re… Continue Reading
11.08.23
Whitehouse: “If you care about debt and deficits, you should want a well-funded, well-functioning IRS.”
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing,titled “Fairness and Fiscal Responsibility: Cracking Down on Wealthy Tax Cheats.” Chairman Whitehouse’s remarks, as prepared for delivery: Today’s hearing is entitled “Fairness and Fiscal Responsibility: Cracking Down on Wealthy Tax Cheats.” Most Americans follow the law and pay their taxes on time and in full. Many of the very… Continue Reading
11.02.23
Budget Committee Launches Investigation into Climate Change-Fueled Insurance Crisis
Washington, D.C.—Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and fellow Committee member Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) launched an investigation into how insurance companies are navigating mounting risks from climate change, including where companies will next pull coverage or raise premiums. The inquiry builds on a related investigation the Committee launched in June into the U.S. insurance industry’s decisions to continue investing in and underwriting fossil fuel exp… Continue Reading
11.01.23
Whitehouse: IRS Cuts in Republicans’ Israel Supplemental Would Increase Deficit
Washington, D.C.—Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an estimate of House Republicans’ proposed $14.3 billion supplemental aid package for Israel. House Republicans’ “offset” would rescind $14.3 billion from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement and would reduce federal revenues by $26.8 billion, increasing the deficit by $12.5 billion and costing American taxpayers. Senate Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) issued the following statement: “Republicans never m… Continue Reading
10.31.23
MEMORANDUM: Cuts to IRS tax enforcement would increase the deficit
Republicans have, again, proposed defunding Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax enforcement, hamstringing the agency’s ability to go after wealthy tax cheats and increasing the deficit. In their Israel supplemental, House Republicans have called for “offsetting” $14.3 billion in emergency aid with cuts to the IRS. A score from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is forthcoming, but CBO has already scored Republicans’ attempted IRS clawbacks four times this year and found all would incre… Continue Reading
10.30.23
NEWS: New GAO Report Finds Pandemic Assistance Helped Reduce Credit Card Debt for America’s Working Class for First Time in Over a Decade
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that financial aid provided by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic helped millions of working-class Americans reduce their credit card debt. It was the first time in nearly a decade that the share of active credit card accounts with a balance declined. The report was commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Commi… Continue Reading
10.25.23
Whitehouse: “If you care about inflation, you’d better care about climate disruption”
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing, titled “Bottlenecks and Backlogs: How Climate Change Threatens Supply Chains.” Chairman Whitehouse’s remarks, as prepared for delivery: Ranking Member Grassley and members of the Committee, in ten hearings so far this year, we’ve laid out serious risks climate change poses to the federal budget, to American families and businesses,… Continue Reading
10.24.23
Whitehouse: Statement on Adjusting Topline Spending Limit to Fund Disaster Relief, Address Effects of Climate Change
Washington, D.C.—Today, consistent with the September continuing resolution (CR), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, adjusted the topline spending limit for the Appropriations Committee. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed in June of this year, lifted the debt limit and established caps on discretionary spending for the next two fiscal years. But the Congressional Budget Act allows for extra funding above the caps if Congress deems it an emerge… Continue Reading
10.20.23
Whitehouse: Republicans’ fixation on tax cuts for billionaires is driving up the national debt
Washington, D.C.—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a statement on the Fiscal Year 2023 budget results. According to the statement, federal revenues fell to 16.5 percent of GDP last fiscal year, down from 19.3 percent in 2022. Revenues have only been that low six times since 1962 (not including the period immediately following the Great Recession). Even without the one-time drop in the deficit from the Supreme Court striking down President Biden’s student debt forgiveness … Continue Reading
10.18.23
Whitehouse: Making Health Care More Efficient Will Improve Quality of Care, Reduce Costs
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing, titled “Improving Care, Lowering Costs: Achieving Health Care Efficiency.” Chairman Whitehouse’s remarks, as prepared for delivery: Ranking Member Grassley and members of the Committee, today’s hearing is about excess costs in health care and ways we can reduce the budget by spending health care dollars more efficiently. As I poin… Continue Reading
10.17.23
Proposed Cuts to IRS Enforcement Would Add $24 Billion to Deficit, CBO Finds
Washington, D.C.—The latest Republican effort to defund Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax enforcement would increase the deficit by $24 billion, finds the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in a new analysis provided to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). In an amendment that the Senate may soon consider to the minibus appropriations bill, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) proposes cutting more than $25 billion from the IRS, a move that would help large corporations a… Continue Reading