Enzi Holds Out Hope on Lame-Duck Budget Process Changes

• Says Sanders return from White House campaign trail made it more difficult to negotiate

• Sen. Perdue has plan that would consolidate committees

Sept. 30 (BNA) -- Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said he still holds out hope something can be done on budget process changes in the waning weeks of the 114th Congress, even though similar hopes were dashed earlier this year, including last month.

Enzi said he plans to approach Democrats on his committee about trying again on the issue in the lame-duck session. Previously, he said any process changes were more likely to be made when it was in doubt who would control the Senate in the 115th Congress that begins in January.

“If we did what we agree on, we ought to be able to pass that pretty quickly and that would make a difference in the very next cycle. If it goes past the lame duck, then we'll be revising how it works while we're doing it,” Enzi told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 28, chuckling slightly at the prospect of hammering out process changes as the committee gets to work on a budget resolution.

‘Confusion' Among Democrats

Enzi has said for months some limited changes to the process were possible and has been meeting with senators both on and off the committee to discuss ideas. In particular, he and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have appeared together in public to talk up potential changes while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee's ranking member, was on the presidential campaign trail seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Enzi said he blamed the failure to get to an agreement on the way the Senate does things, but said Sanders's return after not being involved in hearings on changes to the budget process did not help.

“The Senate process—it always takes us longer than it should to do anything around here. That's because we try to do things so comprehensively. And I don't like comprehensive bills,” Enzi said.

Sanders's return to Capitol Hill added to the delay, he said.

“There appeared to be some confusion on the other side, about whether they could go on or should go on. And Bernie, of course, missed all of those hearings that we had that led up to some agreement on both sides of the aisle of things that we needed to get done. So that delayed putting in a bill and getting finished.

“I'll be talking to both Sen. Sanders and Sen. Whitehouse to see who I need to be working with. I've been asking that.”

Sanders's office declined to comment Sept. 30 on Enzi's remarks or how he feels about making changes to the budget process.

Lankford: Still Time

Sen. Jim Lankford (R-Okla.), who attended some of Enzi's bipartisan meetings, said he thought there was genuine interest among Democrats for budget changes.

“I think there still is some traction. I think there's an interest hopefully on both sides,” he said.

Lankford also said there was still an opportunity for some alterations to be made prior to the 115th Congress.

“It's when we get the final omnibus or minibuses or whatever it's going to be, I think there's a still a moment to be able to put in some reforms. Getting all of it? Highly unlikely. Getting part of it, getting a down payment on it? I think it's possible.”

‘Clean-Page Approach.'

Enzi went to the Senate floor Sept. 28 to show support for a related effort led by Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) on what Perdue calls a “clean-page approach” to budgeting.

That plan, which Perdue told reporters Sept. 29 was still in its early stages, would change the non-binding budget resolution into a law that would have to be signed by the president; put all types of spending, including Social Security and Medicare, into one budget; and have consequences for lawmakers, the White House and their staffs if federal funding was unable to be agreed upon.

The plan would make major organizational changes by consolidating the appropriations and authorizations committees in the Senate into subject-area policy committees and create an “executive committee” for appropriations made up of the chairmen and chairwomen of the committees and the ranking members. That committee would decide on an overall spending number for the upcoming fiscal year and the allocations for the policy committees.

The plan would also change the fiscal year to make it coincide with the calendar year. At the beginning of the year, the Finance Committee would set an annual revenue estimate that would include all sources of federal revenue and account for tax expenditures, the various tax deductions and credits in the code meant to advance specific policies.

The funding bills would be reduced from the current 12 to only four, which Perdue said would make them easier to pass. In the event the bills were unable to be enacted by the end of the fiscal year, Perdue said one idea would be to dock the pay of lawmakers and the president, as well as their staffs.

Perdue said his effort, which has included talking to fellow freshmen Republican senators and Democratic senators, was complementary to Enzi's initiatives, not in opposition to it.

“This is a heavy lift,” Perdue told reporters. “This is not something we expect to get done by Christmas.”

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