McCollum: Republicans' Failure To Meet Statutory Budget Deadline Is A Failure To Govern

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. House Republicans failed to meet the statutory deadline to enact the fiscal year 2017 budget resolution. Passing the budget resolution should have been especially straightforward this year, because the House and Senate passed – and the President signed – a bipartisan agreement setting overall spending levels for fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

However, House Republican leaders declined to bring their proposed budget to the floor for an up-or-down vote because of infighting within the House Republican Conference as some of their Members seek draconian cuts to programs for working families, people with disabilities, and seniors. This failure has serious consequences for the work of the Appropriations Committee, where Congresswoman McCollum serves as Ranking Member of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee.

“There is a budget agreement in place and that agreement is the law of the land,” Congresswoman McCollum said. “Instead of undermining that agreement with sharp cuts to investments in education and infrastructure and another attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Republican majority should pass a budget based on last year's bipartisan agreement and allow for a fully transparent appropriations process.”

“Further infighting and political game playing serve only to make the appropriations process more difficult and, once again, demonstrate House Republicans’ failure to govern responsibly,” Congresswoman McCollum continued. “It is time we come together, pass a budget, and put the needs of the American people first.”