Kudos to Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) for holding up – however briefly – the Congressional budget resolution over very serious concerns about so-called “Changes in Mandatory Spending” or CHIMPS. Though unfortunately he eventually relented and dropped his objections, Corker helped bring attention to these inside-the-beltway gimmicks. They might sound innocuous, but CHIMPs aren’t exactly monkey business. They allow Congress to circumvent budget restraints by shifting future spending outside of the relevant budget window, thus giving the illusion that there is more money available in the short-term. It’s a sleight-of-hand that costs taxpayers billions of dollars in additional expenditures.
Corker’s objection at least delayed passage of the budget and will hopefully encourage Congress to revisit the important issue. As the Tennessean astutely stated in a Politico article: “CHIMPS is a budget gimmick that is $190 billion in extra spending over a 10 year period, and it’s something our caucus all has been for eliminating… so I have concerns about that... What I’d like for our budgeting process to do is to rid itself of a lot of the gimmicks it has used in the past to actually spend a lot more money than people think we’re spending.”
Corker hits the nail on the head with his criticism of CHIMPs, but that’s not the only gimmick being employed in the budget resolution. Also troubling to taxpayers is a massive expansion of the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, which is supposed to be used only for emergencies and active military operations. Unfortunately, because OCO is not subject to the spending caps put in place by the Budget Control Act of 2011, it has become a “slush fund” for unrelated functions.
The current budget proposal would allocate $98 billion for OCO – far above the Pentagon’s $51 billion request. While it’s not entirely clear how this additional $47 billion will be used, one thing seems certain: the money won’t be used for OCO’s original intended purpose. Instead, it’s a dishonest budget gimmick that will allow Congress to spend more than it’s supposed to.
Hopefully, Corker’s objections will bring greater attention to these shenanigans and encourage fiscal conservatives to demand more spending restraint. The current budget resolution could sure use it.