Ranking Member News
Senators Provide Breakthrough in Long Fight For Taxpayer Transparency
by BRYAN BERKY
It has been 50 years since we put a man on the moon. But the federal government still can't provide a comprehensive list of the programs that it runs. A bipartisan group of Senators is trying to change that. In a week full of newsy updates on debt limit and budget cap negotiations - this may actually be the biggest development. Senators Enzi (R-WY) and Lankford (R-OK) led a bipartisan letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asking for a progress update on the federal program invent… Continue Reading
07.17.19
Senators Make Bipartisan Push for Transparency From White House Budget Office
by Dan McCue
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of Senators led by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., is calling on the White House Office of Management and Budget to publish a full list of all federal programs publicly available on the web to make it easier to identify program waste and duplication. In a letter sent to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday, the group says providing a comprehensive list of federal programs on an easily accessible government website "is critical to helping Cong… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Enzi: Fiscal Storm needs to be Fixed now, not later
Washington, D.C. - During a hearing Tuesday on securing the nation's fiscal future, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said he hoped the committee would produce bipartisan proposals to fix America's broken budget and spending process. The Comptroller General for the Government Accountability Office Gene L. Dodaro testified, discussing what fiscal rules other countries have utilized to manage their debt and deficits, as well as other steps Congress can take t… Continue Reading
06.14.19
Enzi wants economic opportunity zones to target areas in need
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Mike Enzi wants the Small Business Administration to ensure the Historically Underutilized Business Zones program is fulfilling its mission and improving economic opportunities in distressed communities across the country. In a news release, Enzi said reports showed the HUBZone program funds are going to some of the nation's wealthiest areas, instead of being targeted to the country's neediest communities, as the program was intended. Enzi said he was troubled to re… Continue Reading
04.09.19
The Bipartisan Push to Budget Long-Term for Natural Disasters
by Zach C. Cohen and Brian Dabbs
The Senate is coming around to an inevitable conclusion: Emergencies are increasingly common, and Congress should budget better for them. As multibillion-dollar disaster-relief legislation languishes in the upper chamber over aid to Puerto Rico, Senate budgeters and appropriators looking to tackle the deficit and the worst effects of climate change are embracing the idea of regular budgeting for natural disasters rather than resorting to supplemental appropriations. Senate Budget Chairman Mich… Continue Reading
04.08.19
Judd Gregg: In praise of Mike Enzi
by Judd Gregg
The federal deficit in February set a record. It was $234 billion. Up until 2008, annual deficits -- those covering twelve months - rarely reached the level of the deficit the federal government just ran for the month of February. The deficit for the first five months of this fiscal year is at $544 billion, and we are not even half way through the year. Most of this deficit was driven by an increase in spending, which is up nine percent over last year's spending at the same time. Last year, … Continue Reading
03.29.19
Senate panel approves GOP budget plan
by ANDREW TAYLOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate panel Thursday approved a GOP budget plan that would curb federal benefit programs by $551 billion over the next five years and reject President Donald Trump's plan to use budget tricks to pad the Pentagon budget. The Budget Committee approved the nonbinding measure by a party-line vote. The budget plan probably won't head to the floor for vote by the full Senate, however, and won't have much bearing on Capitol Hill efforts later this year to reverse automatic spendi… Continue Reading
03.28.19
Senate Budget Committee votes to advance 2020 budget plan
by David Sherfinski
The Senate Budget Committee on Thursday voted to advance a 2020 budget plan that aims to eat into government spending over a five-year period and hold annual federal deficits under $1 trillion - a level they're projected to surpass for most of the next decade. Chairman Mike Enzi said the plan is focused on "modest, achievable steps" that will put the country on a stronger financial footing. "This budget will not solve all our problems, but I hope it marks the start of an honest, bipartisan con… Continue Reading
03.27.19
Sen. Mike Enzi: Senate Budget Is a First Step to Strengthen America’s Future
by Sen. Mike Enzi
This week the Senate Budget Committee will consider a budget plan that will reduce deficits by half a trillion dollars over the next five years. The budget does not presume to solve all of our fiscal challenges. We've seen past plans with that aspiration, all of which have been ignored within weeks. This time we are calling for Congress to try a different approach. Working together, let's start the process of taking incremental, reasonable steps to rein in deficits and debt and provide the found… Continue Reading
03.25.19
GOP Sen. Enzi proposes modest deficit curbs in new budget
by ANDREW TAYLOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior Senate Republican Friday unveiled a five-year budget plan that would modestly curb budget deficits that would otherwise soon breach $1 trillion, while rejecting President Donald Trump's gimmick of using war funding to sustain big increases for the Pentagon. Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said the nonbinding blueprint is a "responsible first step" toward curbing budget deficits "by reducing overspending and setting real, achievable deficit reduction targe… Continue Reading
03.24.19
Highlights of the Senate Budget Committee’s Chairman’s Mark
by Gordon Gray
On March 22, the Senate Budget Committee (SBC) released the Chairman's Mark for the FY2020 Budget Resolution. It is remarkable in that, unlike many recent budget plans from Congress or the administration, it has a nodding acquaintance with reality. It does not assume rosy economic growth, but rather hews to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) economic forecast. It does not purport to balance in 10 years, a task that is increasingly a flight of fancy. Rather, it acknowledges the reality of pr… Continue Reading
03.24.19
Enzi's 2020 budget plan attempts to tame federal deficits
by David Sherfinski and Stephen Dinan
The Senate Budget Committee will take up Chairman Mike Enzi's 2020 budget proposal this week, as lawmakers hunt for new ways to turn around a bleak U.S. fiscal picture that just saw the government post its worst monthly deficit ever. February saw the government dip $234 billion deeper into the red, as government spending soared, powered by increased payouts at the Pentagon and in Social Security and Medicare. Mr. Enzi's new budget tries to tame Medicare, though he leaves Social Security untouc… Continue Reading
03.23.19
Senate Budget Plan Includes Realistic Deficit Reduction
by Patrick Newton
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) introduced today a Chairman's Mark of the Fiscal Year 2020 budget resolution to be considered and voted on by the full committee. The budget calls for $538 billion in deficit reduction over five years. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: We applaud the committee for putting forth a budget that includes significant deficit reduction and a realistic fiscal goal of returni… Continue Reading
03.23.19
Senate Republicans Issue Five-Year Plan to Rein In Budget Deficit
by Kristina Peterson
WASHINGTON-Senate Republicans issued a five-year budget plan Friday that calls for reducing the federal deficit and diverges from the White House over how much to stash in an emergency war fund. The budget resolution aims to cut mandatory spending, the part of federal funding extended on auto-pilot, by $551 billion by 2024. Republicans have long targeted this chunk of the federal budget, which pays for programs including Medicare and Medicaid, as the best opportunity for reining in spending. Ma… Continue Reading
03.22.19
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi proposes cuts to lower budget deficits
by Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior Senate Republican has unveiled a five-year budget plan that would modestly curb budget deficits that would otherwise soon breach $1 trillion, while rejecting President Donald Trump's gimmick of using war funding to sustain big increases for the Pentagon. Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi says the nonbinding blueprint is a "responsible first step" toward curbing budget deficits "by reducing overspending and setting real, achievable deficit reduction targets." The Wy… Continue Reading
03.22.19
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi unveils 2020 budget blueprint
by David Sherfinski
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi on Friday unveiled a federal budget for 2020 that includes some of President Trump's entitlement spending trims but ditches his defense spending gimmicks and rosy economic assumptions. The Wyoming Republican's plan leaves open the possibility of hitting Mr. Trump's $750 billion goal for defense spending, but only if Congress can agree to a deal to raise spending caps that likely also means a short-term spike in domestic spending - which Mr. Trump has o… Continue Reading
03.08.19
Enzi moving ahead with ‘realistic’ budget resolution
by Paul M. Krawzak
The Senate Budget Committee plans to mark up a fiscal 2020 budget resolution the last week of March, setting out spending and revenue targets for the next five years. Budget Chairman Michael B. Enzi, who skipped the exercise last year, said he intends to break from past practice and write a "realistic" budget which, for example, would not envision balancing or wiping out deficits. That's in part a function of the shorter time frame to reach balance - budget resolutions in recent years have typ… Continue Reading
02.04.19
Enzi wants answers on Census IT costs
by Chase Gunter
In a letter to new Census Director Steven Dillingham, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) raised concerns about how the nearly $5 billion in IT spending is being managed by the bureau. To that end, Enzi pointed to the number of vacancies in a key program management office that oversees the bureau's IT integration contract. That contract, worth $890 million and awarded to the technology provider T-Rex Corporation, is Census' largest IT deal. As of June 2018, 33 of the 58 positions in the office charged with… Continue Reading
12.13.18
Chairman Mike Enzi has some additional questions about VA’s IT strategy
by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier
Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., wants to know what contingency plans the Department of Veterans Affairs has in place should its efforts to "reset" development of a critical piece of benefits delivery software fail to go according to plan this time around as well. The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee sent yet another missive today in what is now a robust series of volleys between his office and the VA. This latest letter is a response to another VA Secretary Robert Wilkie sent on Dec. 10, which i… Continue Reading
12.11.18
Republicans and Democrats Unite on at Least One Issue: Oversight of the V.A.
by Jennifer Steinhauer
WASHINGTON - Even before the next Congress convenes, Republicans are joining Democrats in a vigorous examination of failings by the Department of Veterans Affairs, a rare area of bipartisan oversight in a blistering political environment. The unity was emphasized in recent weeks when lawmakers in the House and Senate from both parties sharply criticized the response of V.A. officials after it was revealed that the agency failed to make housing and tuition payments under the G.I. Bill after its c… Continue Reading
