H.R. 3746, titled the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, would suspend the debt limit through January 1, 2025 and create caps on “discretionary” spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. In fiscal 2024, defense spending would increase three percent, to $886.4 billion, and nondefense spending would decrease five percent, to $703.7 billion; both limits would increase by one percent for fiscal 2025. Among multiple other provisions, H.R. 3746 would provide $44.8 billion for the veterans’ toxic exposure fund and $22 billion for a Commerce Department fund, rescind $27.7 billion in unspent federal Covid-related funds, rescind $1.4 billion of the $79.3 billion provided in 2022 for IRS enforcement, enact time limits on environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, and raises the age of SNAP work requirements for able-bodied individuals to 55 while exempting certain other groups. Furthermore, the bill requires discretionary spending to decrease by one percent if Congress fails to enact on-time appropriations legislation for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. In an April 28, 2023 op-ed opposing a previous iteration of the bill, Representative Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) stated, “Going off the cliff at the Republicans’ 60-mph or the Democrats’ 80-mph results in the same thing: A horrific crash.”
The House passed H.R. 3746 on May 31, 2023 by a vote of 314 to 117 (Roll Call 243). We have assigned pluses to the nays because continuing reckless spending and debt accumulation will result in economic catastrophe, and most federal spending is for programs not authorized by the Constitution.
