Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Newsmax Monday that the “dysfunctional” Congress has lost control on spending and are “mortgaging our children’s future.”
“The reason I ran is because we're mortgaging our children's future,” Johnson said during the “The Chris Salcedo Show” Monday. “We need to get serious about passing budgets that do not have such, you know, out of control deficit spending.”
Johnson said members should be working to bring back “functionality” where Congress takes up individual appropriation bills instead of massive, 5,000-page, legislation that includes funding for a variety of items.
“We're going to have that defense department appropriation bill on the floor of the Senate, will give it a week to two weeks for amendments during an open amendment process, and then we vote on it,” Johnson said. “If Democrats want to block voting for funding our troops, let that be on their shoulders, and then, after two weeks we bring up the next appropriation bill, but right now we're not [doing that].”
Johnson’s comments come after the House passed a package of six funding bills totaling $90.9 billion on July 20 with a vote of 220-207, along party lines, with all Democrats supporting the measure.
“The 2023 T-HUD bill represents a continued commitment in our nation’s affordable housing and infrastructure,” Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Chairman David E. Price, D-N.C., said in a House press release about the package. “It will benefit rural and urban communities throughout America by growing opportunities for homeownership and rental assistance while also creating tens of thousands of jobs to repair and expand our airports, highways, transit, passenger rail, and port systems. This legislation provides expansive funding for safe, well-maintained, and innovative public housing, including substantial investments in manufactured housing, and transportation, supporting vulnerable populations and addressing existing inequity. This bill will benefit communities across America and lay a strong foundation for economic growth and resiliency.”
The package must now go to the Senate for reconciliation and approval before being signed by President Joe Biden.
Johnson said this practice of bundling individual spending bills into larger packages, gives Congress less control over spending, and allows for items to get through the process easier than when debated on their own merits.
“We're not voting at any appropriation bills,” Johnson said. “We end up having some deal, some massive, you know, 2,000-3,000-page bill [that]we get to see [only] a couple hours before we are asked to vote on it, and it's completely dysfunctional.”
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