House Fails to Pass Balanced Budget Amendment

balanced budget amendment

Republicans control the Presidency, House, and Senate – yet can’t seem to control a budget.

President Trump signed a disastrous $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill that wound up on his desk last month, after threatening to veto it. He reluctantly signed it, then demanded line-item veto authority to cut the pork from it. It’s extremely unlikely he’ll be granted that authority, as there are Constitutional reasons why Trump may not be allowed that ability.

Congress has no one to blame for the 2,232-page disaster but themselves. Congress set the omnibus funding deadline of Friday, March 23, on February 7th. Congress being Congress didn’t bother to wait until about a week before the deadline to actually throw a bill together. A bill that nobody bothered to read, mind you.

According to Fox News:

The House of Representatives failed to pass an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget.

The vote was 233-184 in favor, but in order to pass a constitutional amendment, the measure needed two-thirds of the House to vote for adoption, meaning almost 50 more congressmen needed to cast votes in the affirmative.

Six Republicans voted against the amendment proposed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte: Justin Amash, R-Mich.; Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla.; and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. A balanced budget amendment requires the government to spend no more than it takes in each year — and Republicans have pushed to consider the measure since the 1980s.

This marks the first vote in the House on a constitutional balanced budget amendment since 2011. Before that, it was 1995.

Congress has never been able to garner enough support to pass the amendment (obviously) and has been attempted in 1982, 1986, 1986, 1995, 2011, and now this year.

Warren Buffet, who once boasted the title of wealthiest man on Earth, once remarked that he could end the deficit by passing “a law that says anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”

Given how our Congressmen spend taxpayer dollars, I’d say that’s a brilliant idea.

Do you think it’s time for a balanced budget amendment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below! 

By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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