The House of Representatives Thursday failed to muster up enough votes to pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, a vote Republicans scheduled in response to cries from conservatives that Republicans have lost their way after passing a $1.3 trillion spending package last month.
Amendments need two-thirds of the House, two-thirds of the Senate, and two-thirds of the state legislatures to become part of the Constitution. But the balanced budget measure failed to reach that threshold.
The final vote on the measure was 233-184, well short of the two-thirds threshold. Seven Democrats voted for it, roughly offsetting the six Republicans who voted against it.
Democrats used the debate to charge Republicans with hypocrisy after passing the spending bill and tax cuts that are expected to increase annual budget deficits.
“This so-called balanced budget amendment is not balanced, and it should not be an amendment to the Constitution,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at a news conference Wednesday.
Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., said the vote was scheduled “on the heels of the most fiscally reckless tax cuts in our history,” in addition to the big spending bill.
The vote came days after the Congressional Budget Office predicted the U.S. will face a $1 trillion budget deficit in 2020, two years earlier than expected, and a national debt of $33 trillion by 2028. The uptick was in part due to the Republican tax reform package signed into law in December.
“[If] current laws governing taxes and spending generally remain unchanged, the federal budget deficit grows substantially over the next few years.” the CBO said in its 10-year forecast. “As a result, federal debt is projected to be on a steadily rising trajectory throughout the coming decade. Debt held by the public… approaches 100 percent of GDP by 2028.”
The CBO also predicted the tax cuts would add $1.9 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Nonetheless, Republicans were hoping the vote would put them back in the good graces of their voters.
“A balanced budget amendment has been one of the highest priorities of my tenure in Congress,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the lead sponsor of the amendment. “A constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget would finally bring discipline to federal spending and would benefit generations to come.”
During the two-week recess, Republicans were greeted by questions about why they helped pass the $1.3 trillion package, leading to the amendment vote and talk of a vote on a rescission package aimed at eliminating some of the new spending. Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., have signaled an openness to the idea, and McCarthy is working alongside President Trump on a package.
The amendment has long been a talking point for Republicans, dating back to the 1980s when President Ronald Reagan supported it. More recently, former House Speaker John Boehner was a supporter of the amendment, but it has never passed the House.
