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Reclaim Article One and Budget Reform
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Committees on House Administration and Oversight and Reform |
This change could require a range of actions depending on the specifics of the proposal. |
Restore Congressional Rulemaking
Regulatory rulemaking and implementation has increasingly been shunted to the executive branch, bolstered by judicial deference and a lack of legislative specifics. Bringing this knowledge back to Congress with new Congressional Offices on Regulatory Rules and Legal Counsel, staffed by experts who can help draft and provide guidance on rulemaking, would be a major - overdue - reassertion of Congress's Article One powers. The first step toward bringing these new offices online would be a Government Accountability Office feasibility study.
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House Committee on the Budget |
Legislation required. |
Strengthen Budget Enforcement
In order to make use of the Senate's special budget rule - reconciliation - to enact policies that otherwise wouldn't meet the Senate's typical 60-vote threshold, budgets have become less of a routine, but essential, governing document cementing agreed-upon goals and limits between the two chambers of Congress. It is also more of a political cudgel to be passed when convenient. Limiting the use of reconciliation to deficit reduction would strengthen the role of the budget, make it easier to enforce, reduce the legislative gimmicks sometimes necessary to comply with reconciliation rules and encourage bipartisan agreement.
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Committees on House Rules and Judiciary |
This change could require a range of actions depending on the specifics of the proposal. |
Improve Legal Conflict Resolution Between Congress and the Executive Branches
Judicial review and consideration of conflicts between the Congress and the administration can be a years-long process, creating costly uncertainty for those affected by a rulemaking. Enacting bipartisan legislation granting Congress standing in the Courts and creating expedited procedures for inter-branch conflicts would help Congress reassert its Article One authorities.
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Committees on House Rules and Budget |
No legislation required |
Annual Fiscal State of the Nation
Just like the President's annual State of the Union lays out his or her policy vision for the coming year, an annual Fiscal State of the Nation would present the current facts affecting our fiscal status such as debt held by the public, anticipated revenue and outlays. This would help call attention to these pertinent issues as well as provide all Members of Congress and members of the Executive branch the same key figures by which to plan and negotiate, reducing the habit of making policies based on overly optimistic or varying expectations.
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House Committee on the Budget |
No legislation required. |
Count the Cost of Tax Expenditures
Tax expenditures are carveouts and deductions riddled across budget functions to reward certain economic behavior or promote a policy outcome. Typically, though they are a tax deduction, they can operate very much like direct spending, add to the federal deficit, and are just as much a part of policy-making as any program or law. To increase transparency, avoid duplication and better understand the role of tax expenditures in the federal budget, they should be included as a specific line-item in the budget resolution.
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House Committees on Oversight and Reform and Budget |
May require enactment of legislation. |
New Deadline for Key Budget Information
To make accurate budget projections that help Congress set spending guidelines for the next fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office needs reliable information from the Office of Budget Management in the Executive branch. If this doesn't happen in a timely manner, the entire budget process will get off to a slow start, beginning a cascade of further delays. A firm December 1 deadline for receipt of supplemental budget information (prior fiscal year data, current year fiscal data, and credit re-estimates for the current year) will help keep the budget process on track.
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Committees on House Administration and Rules |
No legislation required. |
Test Rules Changes in Subcommittees
Just as states are rightly considered the "laboratories of democracy," subcommittees could be a place where innovation and experimentation with new rules or formats takes place to pilot these recommendations and see what works best for the group before committing them to the larger body.
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Committees on House Administration and Rules |
No legislation required. |
Bipartisan Pre-Hearing Meetings
It's typical for committee staff and members to talk before hearings on a partisan basis - and the result is the hyper-partisan, adversarial hearings we have today. For a more constructive, facts-finding-focused hearing, committees could bring majority and minority members and staff together to set goals and map out questions.
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Committee on House Administration |
No legislation required. |
Bipartisan Staffing for House Committees
Rather than hiring separate majority and minority staff, who often fill the same basic roles, House Committees could learn something from the Senate and hire administrative staff on a bipartisan basis. This would reduce duplication, save money and build institutional knowledge.
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More Substantive Hearings
A combination of strict time limits, political grandstanding and an often adversarial environment means that new or actionable information is rarely divulged during committee hearings. Committees should consider new formats that could lead to a constructive dialogue.
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Restore Congressional Rulemaking 
