Blue Dogs push Democrats to pass budget

The centrist Blue Dog Democrats are warning their party against forgoing a budget resolution for 2021, citing fiscal concerns.

“Failure to pass an annual budget is a failure of one of our most basic responsibilities,” the group’s fiscal co-chairmen, Reps. Ben McAdams (D-Utah) and Ed Case (D-Hawaii), said in a joint statement.  

“We cannot begin to bring down our national debt or have serious conversations about our spending priorities if we can’t even pass a budget,” they added.

The Blue Dogs, who have called for a balanced budget amendment to rein in the debt, cited The Hill’s story that Democrats were considering skipping the annual budget resolution.

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said last week that he “wouldn’t bet on doing it” given the internal disputes over the budget. Last year, Democrats were just barely able to pass the budget resolution out of committee, but disagreements between the more fiscally conservative Blue Dogs and progressives seeking more nondefense spending scuttled the resolution’s chances in the House.

Last summer, Democrats and Republicans agreed to a spending caps deal covering both 2020 and 2021, obviating one of the main functions of the budget resolution.

But Yarmuth said Democrats may still present their own budget if they feel the need to respond to President Trump’s annual budget proposal, expected in early February.

Trump’s budget proposals to date have all called for major cuts in nondefense spending and significant increases in military spending.