“Every year the House Budget Committee starts the budget process by creating the federal budget resolution, which then goes to the House floor for a vote.  It is one of the few things that Congress must do every year: it sets the spending framework within which Congress must work that year, and creates a budget picture for years into the future. It is one of the basic responsibilities of Congress, upon which every spending decision is based. You may not have heard, but this year, there is no budget. 

“The deadline for a House budget passed with little fan-fare on April 15th, and while the President has submitted his unbinding proposal and the Senate has begun consideration of their version, Speaker Pelosi and the House Democrats appear unwilling to reveal theirs.
Without a House budget, there is no federal budget. There will be no spending limits and no plan to address deficits.  Congress will likely pass a “deeming resolution,” which deems the budget passed at their chosen limit, but it won’t set a discretionary spending cap or require consistency between the House and Senate spending bills. Democrats have indicated that they also may punt responsibility to a budget commission, which is akin to the pilot asking a passenger to fly the plane while he takes a nap. Passing a budget is Congress’s responsibility, and to fail to pass a budget would be negligent.

“In a year when spending restraint and long term budgeting are more crucial than ever, you may ask why there is no budget. The truth is disheartening. Speaker Pelosi simply doesn’t want her members to be on the record as supporting what could be the largest federal budget in history and she doesn’t want them to be forced to explain themselves to their constituents before elections this fall. A budget would reveal the trillion dollar deficits and expose the results of the reckless spending of the last several years, made drastically worse this year by passage of the budget-busting health care bill. However, a $1.5 trillion yearly deficit is not something you can hide from. 

“Democrat leaders have said it best themselves in years past -- in 2006 Representative Steny Hoyer said that enacting a budget was “the most basic responsibility of governing,” and the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, John Spratt, said, “If you can’t budget, you can’t govern.” I couldn’t agree more.

“Yet this will be the first time since the 1974 Congressional Budget Act that the House will fail to pass a budget. As families and businesses across the country continue to make sacrifices and cut their budgets, Congress can’t be bothered to even create theirs. As we move forward this month, I sincerely hope Democrat leadership changes course and begins the regular budget process. Only then can Congress start implementing responsible spending limits and begin working on slowing down the growth of government and the national debt.”

Congressman Simpson is a member of the House Budget Committee.