Fiscal Floundering

Our nation continues its transition from congressional to presidential fiscal control. Retainers of the ancièn regime (“Members of Congress” to you) fumble around looking for something to do as the Administration becomes increasingly assertive. No single recent event moved me to write, but putting several pieces together reveals a picture that is worth noting. The congressional appropriations process is rapidly falling apart. Lacking the filibuster, House minorities have virtually no independent power when the majority is united. The House Republican Caucus is vehemently opposed to negotiating with Democrats so House Republican appropriators write extreme bills that can keep their Members on board but have no chance of getting the Senate Democratic votes needed to overcome the filibuster. This makes House appropriators of both parties increasingly ineffective. For the past several years, then, appropriations bills were effectively negotiated in the Senate. This may be much more…