CRFB Reacts to House Passage of CR

Today the House approved a two-tiered funding plan extending funding for four of the 12 appropriations bills until January 19, 2024 and the other eight until February 2, 2024. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration. Current government funding is set to expire on Friday, November 17. 

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

With the bipartisan passage of the House’s continuing resolution, it looks like the government will remain open beyond November 17 – which is a good thing. However, the problem remains that Congress has failed to act on passing appropriations in a timely manner, thereby failing at one of its most basic responsibilities. We are two months into the fiscal year and not a single appropriations bill has been enacted into law. This is no way to run a country. 

Spending caps were set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and we should stick to them. Lawmakers are attempting end runs around the caps, with the Senate trying to spend more and the House trying to spend less. How about instead they stick to the deal?

We cannot keep governing by self-imposed crises. Americans are tired of it and the world is taking note. As Moody’s U.S. debt outlook downgrade last week reminded us, our country’s fiscal outlook is unsustainable. 

From the looming insolvency of our trust funds to interest on the debt being the fastest growing part of the federal budget, we need to start addressing the drivers of our debt and deficit. We need to get past this funding crisis so we can start looking at more than just the next step in front of us.

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For more information, please contact Matt Klucher, Communications Manager, at klucher@crfb.org.