House Republicans on Tuesday released a long-delayed budget resolution for fiscal year 2024, which the Budget Committee will start marking up this week. The plan has virtually no chance of becoming law in its current form, but it fulfills a pledge by Republicans to provide a road map for future spending shaped by conservative priorities.
Roll Call’s Paul M. Krawzak and David Lerman say the proposal “promises to bring the federal budget into balance over a decade through steep cuts to discretionary spending, new restrictions on the social safety net and relatively rosy assumptions of consistently strong economic growth.”
Total discretionary spending in 2024 would come to $1.47 trillion under the plan, satisfying GOP demands to return to 2022 spending levels. After 2024, spending would grow by 1% per year. Total deficits would be $16.3 trillion smaller than currently projected over a decade, and the budget would produce a small surplus in the tenth year.
Budget Chair Jodey Arrington told reporters that it is not clear if the plan could win a majority vote in the House. “But I can tell you I think the vast majority of our conference supports this,” he said. Marking up the blueprint will “encourage at a minimum the debate about what that path forward into a more sustainable fiscal future looks like,” he added.
Arrington also said that a vote on the plan could help change the minds of conservatives who are currently opposed to the short-term funding bill. “I hope that this will help grease the skids for us to get a unified Republican funding package on discretionary spending,” he said.
