Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) believes House Republicans are at a crossroads with the budgeting process as top GOP leaders get ready to select a new appropriations chair, blasting Congress for being “consistently five months late in doing its job.”
Aderholt, who is a senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote an op-ed to Roll Call offering four changes to the appropriations process. Though not in the running to become the next chairman, Aderholt’s opinion piece is the latest step he’s taken to establish his priorities for government spending.
“The election of a House Appropriations Committee chair is an opportunity to take stock of how it’s working, and how it isn’t,” Aderholt wrote. “While I thank Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) and Vice Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) for their leadership in helping us navigate these challenging times, ultimately, we are at a decision point.”
Granger announced hours after the House passed the final six fiscal 2024 appropriations bills that she requested that the GOP Steering Committee select a new chairperson “as soon as possible.” Later that day, Cole, chairman of the Rules Committee, put his name forward as her successor, calling himself a “budget hawk.”
Among his complaints with the current appropriations process, Aderholt wrote in his op-ed that Congress has used continuing resolutions as a “crutch” to complete the budgeting cycle after the annual deadline. Four continuing resolutions were used during fiscal 2024: one under former GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy and three under Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
“If you have wondered why a government shutdown always seems right around the corner, that’s because it is,” Aderholt said. “In recent years, Congress has used around five CRs to provide funding for an average of almost five months (137 days) — and this average is growing.”
“In other words, Congress is consistently five months late in doing its job, constantly dangling over the cliff’s edge of a shutdown,” the Alabama Republican added.
The four changes Aderholt proposed include freezing spending on unauthorized programs until they present a spending plan, partnering authorizers with appropriators, raising the agreement threshold for policy riders, and unanimity on earmarks from “all four corners” of a subcommittee.
Passing the 12 appropriations bills for 2024 proved to be a difficult task for House Republicans, resulting in months of infighting over spending levels and border security. Eyes will be on the House GOP to see how far it can get into the 2025 appropriations process before the 2024 election, during which it will defend a slim majority.
Aderholt has called for serious budgeting reforms for some time, even voting against the final appropriations bill in March because he disagreed with the inclusion of Senate earmarks, among other things.
“In my years of service on the committee, I never once voted against my own bill while Republicans held the majority — until this year,” the congressman wrote. “This may seem trivial to some, but here’s why it should matter to everyone: If the leader of one of the largest subcommittees in Congress cannot recognize the bill he is voting on from the one his subcommittee approved, what hope is there for his colleagues, let alone the American public?”
The Alabama Republican’s op-ed comes almost a week after he wrote a “Dear Colleague” letter calling for a delay in selecting the next appropriations chairperson. Cole had rebuffed calls to delay the process, saying it was time to “remove the uncertainty.”
“I think the sooner we make the decision, the better,” Cole previously told the Washington Examiner. “It’s not like there’s going to be some mystery candidate that emerged. Whoever runs gotta be a pretty senior figure on the Appropriations Committee.”
“I don’t know why it would take longer to make the decision, and I don’t see the advantage for either the conference or Congress to delay,” Cole added.
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The Steering Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to select a new Appropriations chair, with the conference expected to ratify the new selection on Wednesday if that timeline sticks.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Cole, Granger, and Johnson for comment.