Feb. 25, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in support of the proposed House Republican budget, H. Con. Res. 14:
“Passage of a budget bill creates the framework for eventual passage of President Trump’s tax and energy policies needed to meet America’s economic goals.
“One thing is certain about any budget that is created this year, there will be inherent uncertainty on the actual cost of government due to the extraordinary work being done by the White House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to uncover and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse throughout the $7 trillion in annual federal expenditures. With a goal of finding an incredible $1 trillion of waste and fraud annually in the system, it is nearly impossible to create accurate line-item budgets for the different departments and agencies. What’s more, waste and theft are unlikely to be found in equal parts across all areas of the federal government making any budget aspirational.
“We are also seeing congressional Democrats who benefit most from the bloated and unmanageable federal bureaucracy attempting to use bottom line numbers to claim that popular programs are being cut, when in fact these numbers are attempts to quantify the waste, fraud and abuse that will be eliminated. Contrary to claims by Democrats, in many cases identifying and ending this waste, fraud and abuse will put these programs on a much more secure footing going into the future.
“Given the uncertainty of the actual short-term savings unearthed by DOGE, House Republicans are to be commended for producing the budget which has been submitted. Like many, we would have preferred the anticipation of larger DOGE savings, and those who continue to try to tweak the budget toward this end are right to do so. However, when it becomes time to vote, it is critical that the House GOP draw together with their tiny majority to pass this first stage of the necessary economic overhaul rather than lose the opportunity they have been handed.
“My mother used to tell me not to let the pursuit of the perfect get in the way of accomplishing good, and in the end, the vote on this budget likely satisfies no one entirely, but without a budget, the opportunity for real, necessary change will be lost. This vote is the beginning, not the end, of a process over the next two years to root out the demonstrated absurd spending of public funds and permanently lower the baseline funding of the government, providing a glidepath toward balance, while providing conditions for the economy to grow substantially. Let’s not screw it up.”
For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.
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