A promising start has given way to challenging political realities for supporters of a bipartisan commission to tackle the federal government’s growing debt challenges.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson , R-La., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, May 7, 2024. A promising start has given way to challenging political realities for supporters of a bipartisan commission to tackle the federal government's growing debt challenges. Johnson lauded the idea of establishing such a commission on his first day in office. to tackle the federal government's growing $34.6 trillion in debt.
“I’m disappointed that we haven’t got as much momentum as I thought we would,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee. “The speaker supported it, endorsed it from the outset. But I think there are some outside groups that have weighed in, that have said that this is a backdoor way to raise taxes, and it scared some of my Republican colleagues.”
The last fiscal commission over a decade ago — chaired by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson — recommended $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the course of a decade through a combination of tax increases and painful spending cuts. But the 11-7 vote in favor of the package was not enough to force Congress to consider it back in 2010.
“It will be borne on the backs of those who paid into the system and rely on this program to retire in peace,” Young said. “There’s no guarantee about the outcome. I think that’s what scares more people, and this town likes to know what the outcome is,” said the House bill’s author, Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.
As bleak as things look for the bill now, Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said getting legislation through Congress is often a long game. Getting a House committee to approve the commission was an important step, he said. “We’re as far along as we’ve ever been.”
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