Third Congressional District Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, has proposed a bipartisan constitutional amendment that would require Congress and the president to adopt balanced budgets.
The proposal comes after the national debt surpassed $35 trillion for the first time in U.S. history and amid a reelection campaign where the national debt and spending are likely to take center stage.
Gluesenkamp Perez was joined by Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, in introducing the amendment, which would require appropriations that add to the national debt to pass with a three-fifths majority vote from both chambers of Congress. The amendment would also require the president to propose a balanced budget.
“As our national debt surpasses $35 trillion and folks across Southwest Washington face the impacts of high costs, our federal government needs to reign in our deficit, balance our budgets, and be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. We haven’t had a balanced budget in more than 20 years, and it’s time for Congress to end this reckless cycle,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “Our bipartisan balanced budget amendment will make it harder for the federal government to spend more than it brings in while protecting vital programs our communities depend on. It’s how we get back on track to cut government waste, reduce our deficit, and avoid passing more debt onto our children."
In May, Gluesenkamp Perez was named a 2024 Fiscal Hero by Fix the Debt, a project of the nonpartisan, non-profit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The award, given to a bipartisan collection of lawmakers, celebrates policymakers who have improved the nation’s fiscal trajectory.
The amendment, however, is unlikely to pass through a system the White House describes as “quite onerous.” According to an explanation on whitehouse.gov, the founding fathers intentionally made the process to pass a constitutional amendment challenging to “prevent arbitrary changes.”
According to the explainer, an amendment can be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, by two-thirds of the states or through a convention.
If proposed, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures or three-fourths of conventions.
While on the campaign trail, Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent has repeatedly criticized Democratic spending.
“And the government continues to be undisciplined, and wants to spend billions and billions of dollars that we simply don’t have, that compounds into trillions and trillions of dollars that we don’t have,” Kent said during a May 28 event in Centralia.
Kent has called for Congress to return to individual spending bills to appropriate funds, rather than a larger package typically known as an omnibus.
“Marie (Gluesenkamp) Perez has signed off on all of this. She’s signed off on all of the Bidenomics,” Kent said. “So fiscal discipline is really essential.”
