Amid reports that a new Motion to Vacate the Chair may be forthcoming when the U.S. House of Representatives returns to session next week, Pete Sepp, President of the nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union (NTU) offered the following statement in support of the fiscal leadership of Speaker Johnson:
“The House of Representatives is at a fiscal crossroads, and Speaker Johnson’s leadership is the best available path forward. As the Voice of America’s Taxpayers, NTU has remained focused on its nonpartisan mission of working for lower, fairer, simpler taxes, less wasteful government spending, and less burdensome government regulation. In pursuing that mission, process is important in obtaining those policies. While NTU generally does not take a position on intraparty leadership matters, it is clear that this Congress’s time to address pressing fiscal priorities is dwindling, and distractions are appearing every day. Leadership vacancies cost time and taxpayer dollars better spent on achieving fiscal policy wins.
Should the Senate act on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, will the House have the bandwidth to resolve any differences with the upper chamber and get the job done? How will the deficit impact of the recent supplemental spending package – without offsetting spending reductions – be addressed going forward? Congress acted on the 2024 budget midway through the fiscal year but what about 2025? The upcoming expiration of enforceable caps on discretionary spending, the expiration of the current debt limit, and the financial crisis in Medicare and Social Security are all looming. What will this Congress do to set the stage for sound fiscal policymaking next year? If the House embroils itself in another leadership debate, taxpayers are left to wonder, will their priorities fall by the wayside?
Conversations on selecting legislative leadership are important. So are conversations on where tax, budget, debt, and regulatory policies are headed. From NTU’s perspective, nothing is more urgent for America’s future than the latter conversations, and it is naive to believe the former conversations have no impact. If Ronald Reagan were alive today, he might call this moment, “A Time for Choosing.” It is time for the House to choose: keep focusing on political drama or start focusing on fixing the lack of fiscal responsibility in Washington. Taxpayers have already made that choice.”