House Democrats are likely to skip passing a budget resolution this year, House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) said, according to The Hill’s Niv Elis:
“Over the summer, congressional leaders from both parties and the White House struck a deal to increase legal spending caps for both 2020 and 2021. Having an agreement already in place on how much money will be spent on defense and domestic priorities for the year argues against doing a budget resolution, Yarmuth said.
“‘It's more unlikely than likely, because with the top-line numbers already established, the appropriators are probably going to do something that's pretty similar to what this year’s was,’ he said.”
Skipping the budget would allow Democrats to steer clear of some potential intraparty tensions and tough votes that might highlight differences between progressives and moderates — but it also opens the party leaders up to criticism that they are, for a second straight year, failing to perform one of the core functions of Congress.
“It’s a lazy man’s approach to budgeting: Just let the leadership pick the numbers, get those pluck out of the air, and then everybody just go along with it,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), the top Republican on the House Budget Committee, said, according to The Hill.
But Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), a leader of the progressive caucus, downplayed the importance of the budget process and argued that voters care more about results. “I have no idea why we have an F-in’ Budget Committee here period, because it does not work in any kind of functional way,” Pocan said, accrding to The Hill. “If you could show me 15 people who live outside the Beltway who actually care, that could be relevant.”
