Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, repeated Monday his plans to block raising the federal debt ceiling until a balanced budget amendment is brought to a vote. An amendment Lee coauthored with Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would require Congress to balance the budget each year and keep spending at 18 percent of GDP.
“It’s unsustainable, and it’s also way out of whack with what the practice has been over the last 40 years, which puts us between 18 and 19 percent of GDP,” Lee said on Fox & Friends. “We need a federal government that’s not so big and so expensive.”
Spending as a share of GDP was 23.8 percent in 2010, and the Congressional Budget Office predicts it will be 24.7 percent in 2011.
The primary difference between the Lee-Kyle amendment, which has 17 cosponsors, and the balanced budget amendment drafted by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. John Cornyn, R- Texas, is its requirement of a supermajority vote, Lee said.
“Mine can’t be circumvented without a two-thirds supermajority vote in both houses,” Lee said. “Under a number of circumstances the Hatch-Cornyn provision could be circumvented by a simple majority.”
The Hatch-Cornyn amendment, which has 31 cosponsors, would cap spending at 20 percent of GDP.
Lee was optimistic about the chances for passage: “I suspect that at some point the Republican caucus will get behind one provision or the other.”
A balanced budget amendment from Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has 123 co-sponsors in the House.
Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journal’s AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Leave a Comment