The House Budget Committee on Thursday voted to advance landmark legislation that would create a fiscal committee to limit the growth of the national debt.
The committee advanced the bipartisan legislation in a 22-12 vote. The Fiscal Commission Act of 2023 would form a panel consisting of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers from both chambers of Congress in addition to outside experts.
Specifically, the commission would be composed of 16 members — the Speaker of the House, House minority leader, Senate majority leader, and Senate minority leader would each appoint four members. Three of the four members appointed must be lawmakers and one must be an outside expert.
The country is staring down some $34 trillion in national debt, which is projected to grow in the coming years and decades. Additionally, the federal budget deficit rose to $1.7 trillion for fiscal 2023, which ended last September, according to the Treasury Department. The deficit is the budget shortfall in one year, while the debt reflects accumulated deficits.
The commission would work to produce a report and propose legislation that would stabilize the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product to at or below 100% within 10 years.
Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), who is the chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said that the current fiscal outlook for the U.S. is “bleak.” He said that the share of the debt for each person in the U.S. is over $100,000.
“This is an existential threat to the country,” Good warned during the hearing. “America’s fiscal condition cannot improve unless we take immediate action to address, again, what is one of the biggest threats to our country.”
Good said that, regardless of the recommendations put forward by a fiscal commission, the panel is only as valuable as the willingness of Congress to implement its recommendations.
Congress faces deadlines in the coming years in the form of the exhaustion of trust funds for major entitlement programs. Automatic cuts to Social Security are estimated to come in 2035 unless something is done, and the Medicare Hospital Trust Fund is expected to be exhausted between 2028 and 2031.
Still, some Democrats are against the commission because they believe it will lead to cuts to major spending programs like Social Security and Medicare.
“This particular legislation we’re considering raises legitimate concerns that a fiscal commission could pave the way for cuts to Social Security and Medicare,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) during the Thursday hearing.
The congressman said fiscal commissions in the past have prioritized cutting spending and haven’t focused on changes to the tax code that would close the gap. Kildee said the tax code needs to make “the wealthiest individuals and the biggest corporations pay their fair share,” adding that he opposes the legislation being considered.
Outside groups focused on righting the country’s fiscal ship, like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, have been pushing for Congress to form such a commission, warning that time is running out to act as critical deadlines approach.
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“A bipartisan fiscal commission would give the country’s dire fiscal situation the proper attention it deserves,” said CRFB President Maya MacGuineas. “In the last two decades, the national debt has tripled as a share of the economy, and modest surpluses at the start of the millennium have been replaced with $2 trillion annual deficits.”
There is similar legislation in the Senate that was introduced by Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).