Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., lambasted the "embarrassing failure" of Congress to pass a budget and called for the end of continuing resolutions, a "monolithic legislative set piece" that lawmakers have passed 34 times in the last 10 years.
And with Congress facing a deadline of Dec. 20 to pass another continuing resolution or, worse, omnibus legislation to fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal year 2025, Biggs said let it lapse — shut down the government — until President-elect Donald Trump takes over in January.
Biggs made his argument in a guest column for the Washington Examiner on Friday.
"This embarrassing failure apparently isn't too embarrassing because Congress persists in it," Biggs wrote. "The only exception is that Congress periodically crams all of the programs and bills into a single entity called 'omnibus' legislation for the purpose of raising the spending levels, structural deficit, and national debt — all the while, of course, funding new monstrous federal programs."
At issue is Congress' failure to pass 12 appropriations bills by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal calendar. The House is supposed to have them passed and transmitted to the Senate by June 30.
"The last time this process was completed was in 1976, long before Hunter Biden's pardon was even a gleam in the eye of President Joe Biden," Biggs wrote.
"This month, don't be surprised when Congress further enshrines the continuing resolution as a monument to inaction by passing the 35th continuing resolution in the last 10 years. You can never rein in spending or eliminate wasteful or harmful federal programs if you fail to pass budget bills," Biggs wrote.
"I'd rather let a lapse in spending kick in on Dec. 20 until the new Trump administration takes over in January 2025."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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