RSC STEERING COMMITTEE TAKES OFFICIAL POSITION AGAINST BUDGET DEAL

July 25, 2019

WASHINGTON – Today, the Steering Committee of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) took an official position against the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 which will add nearly $2 trillion to the federal debt over the next 10 years. The legislation fails to meet any of the conditions adopted by the Steering Committee last week.

Chairman Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the RSC Steering Committee released the following statement:

"It is terribly disappointing that Democrats in Congress rejected even modest proposals from the White House to rein in excessive and wasteful government spending. What has resulted is a massive spending deal that will further indebt future generations and remove reasonable safeguards to prevent the growth of government and the misuse of taxpayer dollars. Our nation is more than $22 trillion in debt and simply cannot afford reckless measures like this one.

"The RSC appreciates the administration's effort in proposing more than $500 billion in offsets, and we hold Democrats accountable for their gross negligence in exacerbating Washington's out-of-control spending. The RSC will continue to insist upon a return to fiscal responsibility and will work closely with the administration to move the ball forward. We must fix the broken process that got us here."

BACKGROUND:

The RSC Steering Committee took an official position last week to adopt requirements for any agreement to raise the discretionary spending caps as outlined in a letter by the RSC Budget and Spending Task Force to congressional leadership.

The letter urged adherence to the current-law discretionary spending caps for FY 2020 and FY 2021 for base spending and resolved to reject any caps deal unless it is fully offset, enacts a long-term spending control and does not irresponsibly swell the size of the federal discretionary budget.

Johnson and RSC Budget and Spending Task Force Chairman released an earlier statement regarding on-going negotiations.

Johnson also released a statement on the results of those negotiations.