Dear Friend, 

This week, we’re in Washington for another week of votes. The largest and most important matter on the docket is government funding. Negotiating the federal budget is among Congress’s most important responsibilities, and it is consistently disappointing when this process is rushed. With a national debt of more than $31 trillion, we need a careful funding plan that reins in the cost of our federal government, not a last-minute spending spree.

Unfortunately, it seems like this year has brought more of the same. Government funding is set to expire on December 16—a little more than a week away—and a topline figure, the first step in the process of a budget bill, has not been agreed upon. The longer we go without a compromise, the more we risk going into 2023 with a yearlong continuing resolution.

This would be a major problem. Continuing resolutions simply carry on federal funding at previous levels, so there would be no check on wasteful or outdated government programs. Our national security would suffer since our Department of Defense would not be equipped to face our most current threats. Congress would be forfeiting its responsibility to the American people.

Despite these concerns, continuing resolutions have unfortunately become a part of doing business in Washington. In fact, the federal government has operated under continuing resolutions in all but three of the last 46 years. Continuing resolutions have been relied on to stall government shutdowns for too long.

We cannot continue this pattern. We have introduced a solution to the broken budget process: our Government Shutdown Prevention Act. This bill, which has a companion led by Senator Rand Paul, would avert a government shutdown in the event a spending agreement could not be reached. However, this would not give legislators the get-out-of-jail-free cards they have enjoyed while relying on continuing resolutions. Instead, this bill will automatically reduce federal spending across the board, adding an additional percentage point for every thirty days an agreement has not been reached. This bill offers a real incentive to bring Congress to the negotiating table.

The American people deserve a better budget process. The Government Shutdown Prevention Act is a chance to bring back responsible spending.

Stay tuned for more on our work in Minnesota and Washington and subscribe to in-depth updates on priorities like the economy, personal freedom and more on our website, here.

Sincerely,