The Hill-The House on Tuesday afternoon approved a rule allowing the chamber to consider the third of 10 federal budget reform bills that Republicans have vowed to push through the House this year.
Members approved the rule for H.R. 3581, the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act, by a 239-181 vote. The bill would make several changes to the federal budget process, including by bringing off-budget spending back onto the budget. Several government-sponsored entities, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would be formally brought onto the budget by this language.
The bill would also require the government to factor in the credit risk of its various lending programs into the budget, and require federal agencies to post annual budget justifications online.
“Taken together, these three reforms will bring the kind of attention that we need to a budget process that has been long broken,” Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) said during debate. “We cannot make America’s future brighter and more secure if we continue to escalate the debt that we pass onto our children and their grandchildren.”
Democrats indicated their opposition to the bill during rule debate, mostly because the legislation would not create jobs, which they said should be the main focus of Congress as the economy struggles to regain its footing.
“The bill before us does nothing to improve the quality of life for any American,” Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) said. “It doesn’t create a single job. Not one job is created by this bill we’re talking about today. This bill is going nowhere in the United States Senate, I don’t believe this is a serious effort, and in short, we’re wasting our time.”
Passage of the rule allowed the House to immediately begin debate on the bill itself, after which several amendments to the legislation will be considered.
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