Later this week, the House of Representatives will vote on the first appropriations bill for the 2027 fiscal year: the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. This marks the beginning of the “appropriations season,” normally a multi-month effort by the House and Senate to pass bills that will fund government agencies for the next fiscal year. As has often been the case in recent years, the first bill under consideration continues congressional propensity for deficit spending, despite the fact that our nation’s federal debt level now eclipses the size of our economy.
The bill under consideration this week provides a total discretionary allocation of $157 billion, which is nearly $4 billion, or about 3%, above the Fiscal Year 2026 enacted level. Combined with more than $324 billion in mandatory spending for health care, benefits, and other programs, the total cost of this bill comes in at just under $470 billion.
We are particularly concerned with the relentless upward trajectory of spending for the Veterans Affairs Administration (VA). This bill proposes spending $450 billion next fiscal year at the VA, $83 billion over last year’s level. This 18% increase in spending is not offset by spending cuts or by rooting out government waste and therefore increases VA spending to a level that is almost triple what was being spent 10 years ago. We have a responsibility to support our veterans who sacrificed to preserve our freedoms. However, we can best honor their service by remaining fiscally responsible. Rather than deficit-financed spending, Congress should implement offsets to the discretionary spending, or keep funding flat to avoid adding to the debt.
Worse yet, the bill spends $445 million on 18 “community funded projects,” which is just a fancy term for earmarks. While they only constitute a small percentage of overall federal spending, and are a small reduction from last year’s spending level, earmarks nonetheless have funded a significant number of wasteful projects in the past. Federal spending decisions should be prioritized by actual need, not by political considerations.
A $4 billion increase in spending is peanuts compared to the $1.78 trillion deficit our government is running, but it is emblematic of the larger problem. In Washington, spending only ever increases over time. The result is trillions in accumulated debt that will need to be paid back with interest.
Persistent higher spending levels will lead to extremely tough choices when the bill eventually comes due. As this appropriations bill is the first of many that will soon be considered, let’s hope the forthcoming bills have stronger taxpayer protections.