Oversight
GAO Says Federal Trust Fund Bankruptcy Crisis Extends Far Beyond Social Security and Medicare
by MARK TAPSCOTT
WASHINGTON-A new report contains blunt warning signs of an approaching fiscal crisis in federal trust funds backing Social Security, Medicare, flood insurance, and many other programs, according to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). "The GAO's new report is another warning sign that Social Security, Medicare, and other trust fund programs on which many Americans rely are in danger of going broke," Enzi said Jan. 23 in releasing the Government Accounting Office (GAO) analysis… Continue Reading
01.23.20
New GAO Report Shows Trust Funds on Unsustainable Course
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the non-partisan government watchdog agency, today released a report requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) warning that some major federal trust fund programs - including Social Security and Medicare - are on an unsustainable course. While total federal trust fund balances increased between fiscal years 2014 and 2018, the projected total balance is expected to begin decreas… Continue Reading
01.14.20
Senate Budget Committee Approves Trade Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate Budget Committee today approved H.R. 5430, The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act. The agreement is designed to boost economic growth by modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The bill was previously approved by the Senate Finance Committee last week and by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee earlier today. In addition, the bill was also referred to the Senate Committees on Appropriations, Commerce, Science a… Continue Reading
01.13.20
AFP Urges Congress to Work Together on Budget Reform
by Americans for Prosperity (AFP)
Arlington, Va. - Americans for Prosperity (AFP) released a policy analysis today supporting the Enzi-Whitehouse budget legislation, which lays out five key budget process reforms that would make it easier and more imperative for Congress to address our looming spending and debt problems. The analysis, authored by AFP Senior Policy Fellow Alison Acosta Winters, dives into the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act (BCoBRA) sponsored by Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).… Continue Reading
12.18.19
Improving CBO is a Key Part of Enzi-Whitehouse Budget Process Reform
by Demian Brady
12.12.19
The broken budget process is a democracy reform issue
by Kevin R. Kosar
It is difficult to overstate how wrecked the federal budget process is. Late last month, President Trump signed a 30-day stopgap funding measure to dodge a government shutdown. This was the second time this autumn that Congress and the president had to resort to such a continuing resolution. Governing through short-term spending bills has become the rule in recent years, and not passing a congressional budget resolution (or spending plan) has become the new normal. The wrecked process has produ… Continue Reading
12.05.19
New Scorekeeping Report Continues Focus on Fiscal Transparency in Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) announced the release of the December 2019 Senate scorekeeping report. That report tracks the budgetary impact of legislation approved by Congress against the deemed budgetary numbers included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees to provide members of Congress with regular updates on the budgetary effects of congressio… Continue Reading
11.21.19
Enzi-Whitehouse Budget Process Bill Includes Important Reforms
by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
The Senate Budget Committee recently marked up and reported bipartisan legislation to reform the budget process. The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act, introduced by Chairman Enzi (R-WY) and Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), would improve transparency and accountability in the budget process. It would make the budget resolution into a more effective governing tool by making it easier for policymakers to choose fiscal targets and stick with them. That, we hope, would mean putting the debt on a … Continue Reading
11.14.19
Enzi’s Long-Shot Push for Budget Reform
by Zach C. Cohen
It was almost done. After an hour-and-a-half of debate last week on reforming the way Congress budgets billions of dollars every year, Sen. Michael Enzi refused to call a vote on his bill. Most of the members of the panel were present except for those also on the Judiciary Committee, who were at the White House basking in their effort with President Trump to remake the federal judiciary. So Enzi, the retiring chairman of the Budget Committee, reconvened his committee mere minutes later in an o… Continue Reading
11.13.19
Broken Budget Blues? Senators Enzi, Whitehouse May Have A Remedy For That
by Andrew Lautz
You don't need to be a legislative expert to know that the Congressional budget process is broken. Total public debt is $23 trillion and counting, which is the equivalent of more than 103 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), and the fiscal year (FY) 2019 federal budget deficit alone approached $1 trillion. Lawmakers have time and time again proven unwilling to make politically difficult but fiscally responsible decisions, all the while careening from budget crisis to budget cris… Continue Reading
11.11.19
Bipartisan Reforms Get Budget Committee OK
by MARK TAPSCOTT
WASHINGTON-A package of fundamental reforms in how Congress does federal budgeting received overwhelmingly bipartisan support at the committee level and is now heading to the Senate floor, where it could face big hurdles. The principal sponsors of the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act of 2019 are Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and committee member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). The budget panel approved the legislation Nov. 6 on a 15-6 vote, with support by… Continue Reading
11.08.19
Yahoo! Budget Process Reforms Move Forward.
by Taxpayers for Commonsense
Considering the cacophony coming out of the Capitol, it would be excusable to have not heard about an important bipartisan piece of legislation moving forward. But this week the Senate Committee on the Budget put its stamp of approval on the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Act. Co-sponsored by Senate Budget Committee Chair Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) along with more than a dozen of their colleagues from both parties, this bill is the first bipartisan budget process reform… Continue Reading
11.07.19
Senate Committee Approves Budget Reforms
by Fiscal Times Staff
The Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday approved a bipartisan bill that aims to reform the federal government's budget process. The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act "would provide a more orderly and deliberative budget process focused on long-term fiscal planning," according to committee chair Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), who sponsored the bill along with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Here's Whitehouse's summary of what the bill would do: Move the budget resolution to a two-year cycle… Continue Reading
11.06.19
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: Bipartisan Budget Process Reform Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate Budget Committee approved bipartisan budget reforms sponsored by Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to fix the government's broken budget process by a vote of 15 to 6. The bill, S.2765 - the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act, would provide a more orderly and deliberative budget process focused on long-term fiscal planning. The historic measure approved today represents the first bipartisan budget reforms approved by the Senate B… Continue Reading
11.06.19
Senate Budget Committee Approves Historic Bipartisan Budget Reforms
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate Budget Committee today approved bipartisan budget reforms sponsored by Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to fix the government's broken budget process. The bill, S.2765 - the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act, would provide a more orderly and deliberative budget process focused on long-term fiscal planning. The historic measure approved today represents the first bipartisan budget reforms approved by the Senate Budget Committee… Continue Reading
11.06.19
Concord Coalition Praises Bipartisan Senate Budget Reform Plan
by Concord Coalition
WASHINGTON - The Concord Coalition said today that a new budget process reform bill co-sponsored by Senate Budget Committee Chair Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Budget Committee member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) proposes reforms that would address some of the most vexing problems plaguing the current budget process. The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act is also co-sponsored by Senators Grassley (R-IA), Kaine (D-VA), Crapo (R-ID), King (I-ME), Graham (R-SC), Coons (D-DE), Barrasso (R-WY), … Continue Reading
11.05.19
The unglamorous job of federal budgeting
by Sen. Michael B. Enzi and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
OPINION - It is no secret that a vast majority of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Too often our political debates are characterized by hyperpartisanship, rather than achieving meaningful outcomes for the American people. Nowhere is this problem more acute than when it comes to our inability to address our country's unsustainable fiscal course. Our current budget process is broken, as evidenced by mounting debt and deficits, a patchwork of temporary spending bills, government … Continue Reading
11.05.19
The unglamorous job of federal budgeting
by Sen. Michael B. Enzi and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
OPINION - It is no secret that a vast majority of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Too often our political debates are characterized by hyperpartisanship, rather than achieving meaningful outcomes for the American people. Nowhere is this problem more acute than when it comes to our inability to address our country's unsustainable fiscal course. Our current budget process is broken, as evidenced by mounting debt and deficits, a patchwork of temporary spending bills, government … Continue Reading
11.04.19
Bipartisan Senate Bill Seeks Major Reforms in Budget Process
by MARK TAPSCOTT
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and committee member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced the "Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act" to provide "a more orderly, deliberative budget process focused on long-term fiscal planning." Enzi and Whitehouse added in a statement announcing their proposal that they believe "it would end the brinksmanship surrounding the debt limit and encourage bipartisan collaboration in tackling our growing debt and deficits." Co-spo… Continue Reading
11.01.19
Fair and Smart Budget Reforms Deserve Vote
by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and committee member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released bipartisan legislation Friday to reform the federal budget process. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Grassley (R-IA), Kaine (D-VA), Crapo (R-ID), King (I-ME), Graham (R-SC), Coons (D-DE), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Johnson (R-WI), Perdue (R-GA), Kennedy (R-LA), Cramer (R-ND), and Braun (R-IN). The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committe… Continue Reading
