Womack: Congress needs help on tackling debt

Brawner

Could a bipartisan commission help Congress do what it won’t do on its own?

Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Arkansas, thinks so. That’s why he and Rep. Ed Case, a Democrat from Hawaii, last week re-introduced the Sustainable Budget Act.

The act would create a bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. It would identify policies that would improve the nation’s fiscal future and balance the federal budget over 10 years — not counting interest payments, which totaled $882 billion in fiscal year 2024. The 18 members would be appointed by the president and congressional leaders.

The commission would vote on approving the final report within one year of its appointment. Twelve of the 18 members would have to approve any recommendations. Then Congress would have to vote on those recommendations.

The commission is needed, Womack said in an interview, because “Congress has proven time and time again that is either unwilling or unable or both to address the situation.”

The national debt has grown rapidly since the turn of the century. As of Jan. 14, it was $36.2 trillion, which is equal to $106,000 for every American. The government borrowed $2 trillion in calendar year 2024 alone, or roughly $5,900 for every American.

This would not be the first time Congress appointed a bipartisan deficit commission. In 2010, it created The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. It produced some credible proposals, but only 11 of its 18 members approved its recommendations. As a result, those recommendations didn’t go to Congress.

Why would a new commission succeed when that one failed? Womack said members of Congress are talking more about the issue than previously. There’s a greater sense of urgency now. The Social Security trust fund for senior citizens is projected to become insolvent in 2033. At that point, benefits would have to be cut 21 percent.

Despite that looming deadline and the growing debt, Congress added $1 trillion in new 10-year debt last year and $380 billion on its last day in session. That day, it passed the Social Security Fairness Act, which expanded benefits for nearly three million government workers whose benefits were reduced because they received pension income. Whether or not that was the right thing to do, it wasn’t paid for, and it hastened Social Security’s insolvency by six months.

Among Arkansas’ delegation, Womack and Reps. Rick Crawford and Bruce Westerman voted against it. Rep. French Hill and Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton voted for it.

After I told Womack I wasn’t confident a commission would help Congress balance the budget, he replied, “I share your pessimism, but at some point in time, we’re going to have to do something, and I think Congress is going to have to have some help to do it. And I think the Sustainable Budget Act framework, absent any other rational way to do it, is probably the next best opportunity for us.”

Government deficits — like those in businesses and households — occur because not enough revenues are covering too many expenses. This year, Congress will consider extending the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which was passed in 2017 during President Trump’s first term.

Many of its individual income tax provisions will expire at the end of this year. The Congressional Budget Office says extending them would add $3.7 trillion to the debt over 10 years.

Womack agreed that it is likely Congress will extend the cuts. As for his own vote, he said he believes letting people keep more of their money is good for the economy. At the same time, Congress can’t keep “overpromising your country to its people.” He’s withholding judgment until he sees the legislation and its projected effects.

“I am in favor of extending the provisions of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, but I also have to have an eye toward the balance sheet of this country in doing so,” he said.

Ultimately, Womack said balancing the budget will require members of Congress to cast unpopular votes. It might even cost them an election. But, he said, “you’ll sleep well at night knowing you did the right thing.”

“We’re going to have to either agree that we have a problem, and that it’s going to require some very tough political solutions, or kick our head back in the sand, punt this thing down the road, and leave it to the next generation to try to figure out on its own,” he said. “I just don’t think that that’s a responsible way for Congress to behave right now.”

••• Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.