House Budget Passage Tees Up Trillions in Borrowing

The House of Representatives just voted to approve its Fiscal Year 2025 budget resolution, a vehicle to allow for budget reconciliation legislation that could pave the way for $2.8 trillion of deficit increases.

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

It’s truly unfathomable that when confronted with multi-trillion-dollar deficits and debt climbing towards record highs, lawmakers’ response is to pass a budget allowing themselves to add trillions more in debt over the next decade. There’s no excuse for that notion to even be entertained, let alone passed on the floor of the House.

Budget reconciliation should not add to the deficit, and ideally it should be used to reduce the debt. This budget fails that assignment.

The House will need to revisit the budget resolution again, either after the Senate has made modifications for its own procedures or after the outcome of a budget conference. They should go back to the drawing board and change their reconciliation instructions to require deficit reduction, not $2.8 trillion of deficit increases.

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For more information, please contact Matt Klucher, Assistant Director of Media Relations, at klucher@crfb.org.