America’s budget woes are re-emerging as a flashpoint for debate on Capitol Hill, complicating Republicans’ quest for tax reform.
Fiscal hawks had already signaled unease with efforts by the Trump administration and GOP leadership to raise the federal borrowing limit and pass a government funding bill without committing to structural reforms that would help reduce the deficit. Now, with Hurricane Irma set to strike the Florida panhandle and ballooning estimates of the damage from Hurricane Harvey, some conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups are balking at the numbers.
“We frequently play an unnecessary game of politics with key issues—using must-pass legislation such as disaster relief as a vehicle to sweeten unrelated, contentious bills that may not otherwise pass as stand-alone measures,” Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has estimated his state is facing $150 billion to $180 billion from Harvey’s wreckage. Before the hurricane struck, the Congressional Budget Office had predicted that the national deficit would reach nearly $700 billion this fiscal year. The national debt is almost $15 trillion.
