“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear,” Ronald Reagan said back in in 1964. “Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.” Unfortunately for American taxpayers, in many ways the Gipper’s words are even more true today than they were back then.
One thing breathing eternal life into government programs is “unauthorized appropriations” — spending that Congress makes available for programs that have lapsed in their authorization.
The Congressional Budget Office released a report earlier this year that found that the federal government will spend over $310 billion on programs that have authorizations that have either expired or are on track to expire this current fiscal year. This kind of spending will span 256 laws and 15 House authorizing committees. Over $160 billion will be on programs whose authorization has lapsed for over a decade.
The list of programs affected is eye-opening. While many of these programs are lost in the alphabet soup of federal government programs and agencies, a surprising number are large and well-known.
The National Institutes of Health, for instance, received $31 billion in unauthorized appropriations in 2016; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration received $19 billion; and the Securities and Exchange Commission received $1.6 billion.
Why is this happening? The first main cause is a breakdown in the way that programs and agencies are created (called authorizations) and the way they are funded (called appropriations).
A second main cause is Congress’ disinterest in following regular order in the federal budget process, relying increasingly on short-term stop-gap measures and continuing resolutions instead of processing 12 appropriations bills under normal committee processes. Discretionary spending continues unchecked on programs even after their authorization has lapsed. The large spending package that Congress agreed to this past December was a case in point, as it appropriated more than $300 billion to unauthorized programs.
American taxpayers deserve much better from their elected officials. They sent them to Washington to get federal spending under control, not kick the proverbial can down the road and let the problem compound on itself. Yet they’re the ones who are stuck paying for the higher spending levels through higher taxes and more debt, now and in the future.
Thankfully there is increasing interest on both sides of Capitol Hill to address the problems. The chairs of the Budget committees in Congress, Rep. Tom Price and Sen. Mike Enzi, have both indicated interest in reining in spending on unauthorized programs in the context of budget process reform.
Interest also exists outside of the budget committees. Sen. Jeff Flake recently introduced a resolution that would force votes whenever the Senate considers appropriations that are not authorized, the creatively-named Steermark Accountability Resolution. Leading the charge on the House side is Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. She recently introduced legislation — the appropriately-titled Unauthorized Spending Accountability (USA) Act — that would incentivize House committees to review reauthorizations on schedule by subjecting unauthorized programs to automatic spending reductions. Her bill has over 40 co-sponsors.
Sen. Flake’s and Congresswoman Rodgers’ colleagues should follow their leadership on the issue. Lawmakers in Congress can protect its power of the purse by evaluating programs on time, regularly taking the opportunity to review their purpose and effectiveness when they come up for reauthorizations. American taxpayers deserve at least as much.
Christine Harbin is Director of Federal Affairs and Strategic Initiatives for Americans for Prosperity. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
