WASHINGTON– A bill to create a bipartisan commission that would address the country’s growing debt and make policy recommendations to Congress won approval Thursday from a House committee.
House Republicans are prioritizing the bill, and the chairman of the House Budget Committee said “everything is on the table” regarding possible actions to curb the government’s rising debt level. federal, now more than 34 billion dollars. Many Democrats see the commission as an attempt to force cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
The bill, approved by the Republican-majority committee by a 22-12 vote, would ask the commission to recommend ways to balance the budget as soon as possible and improve the long-term solvency of Medicare, Social Security and other paid programs. through trust funds. The commission would have 16 members: 12 from Congress, evenly divided by party, and four outside experts who would have no voting power.
Sens. Joe Manchin, D-Va., and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, have sponsored a companion measure in the Senate.
Similar commissions have been successful in the past, but recent ones have failed primarily due to partisan divisions. Republicans blame federal spending for annual deficits, while many Democrats cite tax cuts enacted under Republican administrations. That division was on display again during Thursday’s debate, raising questions about whether a new commission could make any progress.
Rep. Jodey Arrington, committee chairman, said both parties are guilty of not being responsible fiscal stewards. He said the annual struggles to pass spending bills show a broken process that makes it difficult to address the country’s financial challenges.
“We all own this,” said Arrington, R-Texas. “We are all in this boat together. The ship is sinking”.
The committee’s top Democrat, Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle, said he fears some lawmakers want to use the commission “as a back door to impose unpopular cuts.” He said Congress needs to have the courage to increase revenue for Social Security and Medicare, which would put both programs on firm financial footing for decades to come.
“We don’t need a commission to do that,” he said.
The hearing began with U.S. Capitol Police taking away a protester while chanting “no cuts to Social Security, no cuts to Social Security.” Some 116 House Democrats wrote a letter last week to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, opposing the bill and calling it “a direct circumvention of the process to speed up the cuts to Social Security.”
Some Democrats support establishing the debt commission. Three Democratic committees voted in favor, including Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., who worked with Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich. in sponsoring the bill. Peters said cuts to Social Security are already included in current law and that once the program exhausts its reserves in less than a decade, participants would see their benefits cut by about 24%.
“Whether you’re 72 or 92, rich or poor, you’re going to get cut,” Peters said. “Now we can pretend that doing nothing will solve the problem. We can pretend that regular order will take care of it. I choose to offer a different path.”
He said he wants to save the program and not cut benefits, but the longer Congress waits to address the problem, “the more leverage we give to people who want to cut benefits.”
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, said she is concerned to hear Arrington say “everything is on the table” for the commission.
“There are some things that shouldn’t be on the table at all, and that’s because the wealth gap in this country is obscene,” he said.
The commission should hold at least six hearings across the country. A final report and recommendations will be delivered in May 2025, Arrington said. The recommendations would get an expedited vote in Congress if they win approval from a majority of the commission, including at least two members from each party.