Reform the Appropriations Process
It is Article One of the Constitution that grants Congress the authority of what is known as power of the purse or the responsibility to pass an annual budget that funds all of the government's functions—an tremendous amount power. Congress can decide what weapons systems the military will have, how NASA will access space, how many infectious disease experts the CDC will be able to hire, how big of a budget the IRS will have for chasing down tax evasion, and far more. That assumes, of course, that they pass a budget.
Unfortunately, Congress frequently drops the ball when it comes to funding the government. This has often been a problem, and Congress has frequently relied upon continuing resolutions (CRs) to avoid government shutdowns. The situation today is far worse than it used to be. The last time Congress passed all funding bills on time was 1997. Repeated government shutdowns, and more near-shutdowns than can easily be counted, have characterized Congress’s abdication of the fundamental power and responsibility granted to them in Article One of the Constitution.
That is why FMA supports efforts such as the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2021 (S. 2727), sponsored by Senator James Lankford (R-OK). The bill would prevent shutdowns by automatically instituting a 14-day CR when funding lapses. During this automatic CR, official travel for legislators and congressional staff is forbidden, with the exception of one covered trip back to DC. Campaign funds cannot be used to supplement travel budgets under this arrangement, making it harder for Legislators to go back to their districts to fundraise for reelection.
During the automatic CR, neither the House or Senate can be put into recess for more than 23 hours, and there are mandatory quorum calls at noon every day to keep all Legislators in town. Finally, no matter other than funding bills could be considered, with limited exceptions after 30 days for nominations of Cabinet Secretaries or Supreme Court Justices and reauthorization of programs that have, or soon will, expire.
What would this legislation accomplish? Well, full year CRs are rare. Usually, Congress eventually passes a budget that is signed into law by the President. This means that there is almost always a compromise that is acceptable to enough Senators and Representatives to pass it. Hopefully, this legislation would create enough inconveniences for legislators to motivate them to come to that point of compromise quicker. Frankly, there is a real prospect of success in this – in normal times, the prospect of having a planned recess delayed or cancelled frequently motivates legislators to find compromises that had seemed impossible weeks before. (Teachers will point out that the same tactic works well to motivate elementary school students.) The prospect of disadvantages in fundraising against non-incumbents who can spend all their time in the district is one that is likely to strike a chord for a great many decision makers.
The reforms in this legislation are important. We are now more than four months into the fiscal year, and Congress is on recess without the Senate having passed a single funding bill, let alone getting one to the President’s desk for signature. Every day we are in a CR costs taxpayers unreasonable amounts of money. Considering our current CR is now more than 120 days old and extending until February 18, the ever-escalating costs to taxpayers are tremendous. FMA will work with Congress to build support for these much-needed reforms.
If you are not already a member of FMA, please consider becoming a member.
The views reflected in this column are those of FMA and do not necessarily represent the views of FEDmanager. To learn more about the Federal Managers Association (FMA), visit their website: FedManagers.org.