CRFB Applauds Launch of Bipartisan Fiscal Forum

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget today applauded the launch of the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum (BFF), co-chaired by Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI). BFF is a bipartisan group of lawmakers dedicated to sounding the alarm about our nation’s unsustainable debt trajectory and working together to advance sound fiscal policy. The BFF steering committee is comprised of Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Ed Case (D-HI), Ron Estes (R-KS), Jared Golden (D-ME), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Blake Moore (R-UT), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA). As part of the group’s launch, the leaders sent a letter to Speaker McCarthy and Leader Jeffries advocating for the creation of a bipartisan fiscal commission focused on developing solutions to our growing long-term fiscal challenges.

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

Getting our nation back on a fiscally sustainable path will require leaders from both parties to work together, and this is exactly what we have with the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum (BFF). We commend co-chairs Peters and Huizenga, along with the steering committee, for formally launching this important group. This is exactly the type of bipartisan leadership the moment requires.

The initial ask of the group – to create a bipartisan Fiscal Commission – is exactly what we need in this moment. Lawmakers should now build on the work of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. A Commission will give lawmakers the space to truly focus on the major fiscal challenges facing the country, and it will help provide them with some political cover in making the needed hard choices. 

With interest rates climbing, inflation still affecting many across the country, and our national debt growing every day, Congress needs a group like BFF now more than ever. Our debt as a share of the economy is on track to set a new record in only six years, and we are projected to borrow almost $20 trillion over the next decade.

This fiscal year alone, we will spend over $600 billion on interest payments, and we will pay more on debt service than on national defense by 2027. Considering these challenges, as well as the looming insolvency of Social Security and Medicare, it is clear that our fiscal health is in jeopardy.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act was a positive step toward putting our country’s finances on a sustainable path, but there is much more work to do. Throughout this Congress, BFF members will work together to create a constructive budget dialogue with their colleagues and seek durable bipartisan policy solutions.

Bipartisanship will be required to fix our broken budget, and the leaders of BFF have demonstrated their ability to work together. We applaud these members for taking these issues seriously and look forward to working with them.

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For more information, please contact Kim McIntyre, Director of Media Relations, at mcintyre@crfb.org.