Appropriating ain’t what it used to be.
In the days when spending was fast rising and members of Congress had the power to steer earmarks home, a seat on the Appropriations Committee was a perk-laden joy. But since Republicans took over the House in 2011, they have banned earmarks and hit the brakes on spending.
So there was understandable resistance among appropriators when Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson came striding in with a proposal to only allow them to dish out money to the nooks and crannies of the federal government every other year.
Isakson's idea, shared by many colleagues, is that two-year budgeting in odd-numbered years frees up Congress to conduct vital oversight of federal programs in even (read: re-election) years. The intent is also to help avoid the periodic deadline crises that have become routine on Capitol Hill.
That the budget process is broken is not in dispute. But shortly after Isakson made his pitch at a Wednesday morning Senate Budget Committee hearing, the pushback began. Appropriators said that clutching tight to the nation’s purse strings is the best oversight of all, and acting every other year gives more leeway to an executive branch that loves to trample congressional authority.
“The remedy might well be worse than the disease,” said U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., seated on the dais with Isakson.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., was elsewhere. He has the chore of patching together an “omnibus” appropriations bill in the next month that somehow clears both chambers and avoids President Barack Obama’s veto pen, with partisan trenches already dug on Planned Parenthood, environmental regulations and a million other issues.
Good luck with that.
But Cochran made sure his thoughts were included in the record.
“A biennial appropriations process sacrifices thorough oversight and fiscal accountability for the illusory promise of stability,” Cochran wrote.
Isakson said in an interview that his biggest problem has come from “old bulls” such as Cochran.
“Nobody likes to give up what they feel as a jurisdiction,” Isakson said. “But I don’t think they’re giving it up” under his proposal.
While the reception at Wednesday’s hearing was mostly positive, Isakson knows he has a long way to go. The chairman of the Budget Committee, U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., is going to hold another hearing before moving forward on a bill, and he will propose tweaks.
House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, a Roswell Republican, is not ready to publicly back two-year budgeting, but he believes it should be part of the discussion as he looks to reform the process.
Isakson and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., have pushed this boulder up the mountain for years, aided by increasing frustration with the budget process. In a nonbinding 2013 vote, 68 senators supported the idea.
A couple of them were even “old bull” appropriators, including a Kentucky Republican named Mitch McConnell who’s now in charge of the place.
The most persuasive slight against Isakson’s plan is that Congress’ budgeting problem is not procedural, it’s partisan. A philosophical divide and structural resistance to compromise are what lead to showdowns, a fact longer-term bills would not change.
Isakson acknowledges this but says his bill would have a “chilling effect” on governing-by-crisis. If it only serves to put more distance between crises, maybe that’s enough.
Playing chicken with South Africa
No, that was not a typo. Georgia Republican U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue did put out a press release Thursday praising the Obama administration.
The president announced his intention to yank duty-free status for South African goods under a free trade agreement after South Africa refused to take down trade barriers for U.S. agricultural products, including poultry — a huge industry in Georgia. Isakson and fellow poultry-state Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., have been beating the drum on South African poultry for a while, and now they have the Obama administration’s hammer on their side.
“We applaud the administration for holding South Africa accountable for failing to eliminate unwarranted barriers to exports of American poultry, as they agreed to do earlier this year,” begins the joint statement from the four senators from Georgia and Delaware.
Vote of the Week:
The U.S. House on Thursday voted, 363-64, to pass a six-year transportation bill.
Yes: U.S. Reps. Rick Allen, R-Evans; Sanford Bishop, D-Albany; Buddy Carter, R-Pooler; Doug Collins, R-Gainesville; Tom Graves, R-Ranger; Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia; John Lewis, D-Atlanta; Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville; Tom Price, R-Roswell; Austin Scott, R-Tifton; David Scott, D-Atlanta; Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County; Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville.
No: Rep. Jody Hice, R-Monroe.
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