Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy and 30 of his GOP colleagues wrote an open letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisting no spending measure she puts forth on the House floor will violate the Budget Control Act of 2011.
“We write to respectfully request that you only bring forward spending measures which adhere to the budget caps put in place by the Budget Control Act (“BCA”) of 2011, as amended,” the letter, which The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained, reads. “As you know, our nation recently surpassed $22 trillion in debt. With every hour that passes, we add $100 million to that figure. That is unconscionable. That must end.”
“We know that if we simply hold to current spending levels — even assuming today’s historically low interest rates — spending on interest alone will surpass defense spending within 5 years,” it continued. “Medicare is slated to run out of funds by 2026 and Social Security is slated to run out of funds by 2035.”
The BCA was passed by the 112th Congress and puts hard caps on discretionary spending. The Democrat-controlled House was scheduled in April to vote on a two-year budget plan that would raise the caps, however, Pelosi abandoned the vote after the progressive wing of her caucus demanded more spending on social programs and revolted against the legislation.
“The good news is that current law is on our side to restrain spending,” the letter said. “Congress should hold overall spending to the caps levels already in place while ensuring our men and women in uniform have the tools necessary to do their job. Doing so would be a modest step on a path towards balancing the budget.” (RELATED: Chip Roy Turns The Tables On Democrats: They Have ‘Blood On Their Hands’ On The Border Wall)
Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy speaks with the Texas Tribune (screenshot)
“If we can’t at least agree to stick to the caps, we will cease to be the ‘land of opportunity,’ where one’s circumstances at birth needn’t define one’s life trajectory,” the letter concluded. “Hold to the caps, budget like American families do every day, and let’s work on a bipartisan basis to ensure a bright future for our sons and daughters.”
Roy will formally send the letter to the speaker Friday. Other signees include Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, California Reps. Tom McClintock and Doug LaMalfa, Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, Florida Rep. Ted Yoho, Georgia Reps. Jody Hice and Rick W. Allen, Idaho Rep. Russ Fulcher, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, North Carolina Repr. Ted Budd, George Holding and David Rouzer, Ohio Reps. Jim Jordan, Warren Davidson, Steve Chabot and Bob Gibbs, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, South Carolina Reps. Ralph Norman, Jeff Duncan and Joe Wilson, and Texas Reps. Louis Gohmert, Lance Gooden, Michael Cloud, Brian Babin, Ron Wright, Van Taylor and Randy Weber.
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