Ranking Member Press
Chairman Enzi: We Must Put Our Nation on a More Sustainable Fiscal Path
WASHINGTON D.C. - During a hearing today on the President's fiscal year 2020 budget proposal, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said that Congress and the President must work together to put our nation on a more sustainable fiscal path. "It is no secret the federal government spends more than it takes in and will soon produce annual deficits exceeding $1 trillion," said Chairman Enzi. "Make no mistake, both sides share in the blame of rising deficits and debt, … Continue Reading
03.11.19
Chairman Enzi's Statement On President’s FY 2020 Budget Proposal
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after the President's fiscal year 2020 budget proposal was released: "The President's annual budget proposal is the first step in the federal budget process and will allow us to consider how his priorities align with the priorities of Congress," said Chairman Enzi. "I look forward to working with my colleagues and the President to curb federal overspending and help bring ou… Continue Reading
03.01.19
BUDGET ROUNDUP: Review of Almost $1 Trillion in Cap-Adjusted Spending
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Cap adjustments have allowed Congress to increase spending beyond the levels set forth in the Budget Control Act of 2011. These cap adjustments have resulted in almost $1 trillion in additional spending. The BCA contains several cap adjustments to increase spending for specified purposes, including emergencies, disasters, program integrity, and overseas contingency operations (OCO), without breaching the law's spending limits. The largest cap adjustments are the OCO and emer… Continue Reading
02.27.19
Enzi: Congress Has Spent Almost $1 Trillion Above Budget Caps Since 2011
WASHINGTON D.C. - During a Senate Budget Committee hearing on cap-adjusted spending under the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) noted that cap adjustments have allowed Congress to spend almost $1 trillion beyond the levels set forth in the law. Enzi said these cap adjustments have created an additional path to increase spending. "While a primary objective of the Budget Control Act was deficit reduction, the law also allows for several cap adjustments to increase spend… Continue Reading
02.04.19
Chairman Enzi Questions Census Bureau About Controlling Costs for 2020 Census
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) is questioning Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham about the Bureau's plans to control the cost of the 2020 Census. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) placed the 2020 Census on its high-risk list because of concerns with the development and security of information technology (IT) systems and unreliable cost estimates. "The 2010 Census was the most expensive in history, costing about $12.3 billion. With the 2020 C… Continue Reading
01.29.19
Chairman Enzi: CBO Report Highlights Need for Congress to Confront Out of Control Spending
WASHINGTON D.C. - During a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the Congressional Budget Office's Budget and Economic Outlook for fiscal years 2019 through 2029, Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) said the CBO report highlights the need for Congress to confront the threat of the nation's out of control spending. "Trillion dollar deficits are within sight, they are real, and it is time for us all to have an honest conversation as to how we are going to address them," said Chairman Enzi. "I believe that m… Continue Reading
01.09.19
Enzi Returns as Senate Budget Committee Chairman, Welcomes Senators Braun, Scott, and Cramer
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) today was again elected by his colleagues as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and welcomed new GOP Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to serve on the Committee during the 116th Congress. "I am honored to return as chair of the Senate Budget Committee as we focus on addressing the debt and overspending challenges facing our country," said Chairman Enzi. "I will continue to lead the charge to fix the broken bu… Continue Reading
12.19.18
Enzi Pressing Customs and Border Protection Over Millions Wasted on Hiring Contracts
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, is pressing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan for more information about a CBP hiring contract worth millions of dollars that only resulted in two new agency hires. The Homeland Security Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently found that CBP paid a private contractor millions to help hire 7,500 Border Patrol agents and officers, but the contractor only hired tw… Continue Reading
12.18.18
Chairman Enzi: Budget Process Reform Efforts Will Continue
WASHINGTON D.C. - During a speech on the floor of the United States Senate, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, outlined his plans to begin fixing the broken budget and appropriations process in the new Congress. "I have always believed that changes to the broken budget and spending process must be guided by two core principles. Reforms should end brinksmanship and the threat of government shutdowns, and they should guide us to create enforceable plans to stop th… Continue Reading
12.12.18
Chairman Enzi: More Action Needed from VA on GI Benefits Problems
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) today said more action is needed from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on problems that have prevented thousands of veterans from receiving their full GI Bill benefits. Since August 1, hundreds of thousands of veterans have either not received their monthly housing allowance (MHA) for the fall 2018 semester or received an incorrect amount. Chairman Enzi pressed the agency recently on what actions it was taking to addres… Continue Reading
11.29.18
Chairman Enzi Concerned with Excessive Markups on FEMA Hurricane Relief Funds
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, sent a letter to Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long expressing his concerns about significantly marked-up prices FEMA contractors charged for repairs to homes damaged by Hurricane Maria. Recent news stories report that more than 60 percent of what a FEMA-supported program spends on repairs to homes damaged by Hurricane Maria is spent on overhead and markups, rather than a… Continue Reading
11.19.18
Enzi Presses Veterans Affairs for Answers on Problems with GI Benefits
WASHINGTON D.C. - After recent reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) information technology (IT) systems have prevented thousands of veterans from receiving their full GI Bill benefits, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) pressed the agency on what actions it was taking to address this significant problem. Since August 1, hundreds of thousands of veterans have either not received their monthly housing allowance for the fall 2018 semester or received an incorrect am… Continue Reading
10.10.18
Enzi Pushes GSA to Better Manage Federal Property
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, contacted the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) about how effectively the agency manages the federal government's real property. The agency operates a vast portfolio of federal property including approximately 267,000 buildings, 496,000 structures, and 42 million acres of land, at a cost nearly $26 billion. Federal real property managed by GSA does not include public lands, which are pr… Continue Reading
10.04.18
Senate Budget Committee Republicans Press CBO on New Health Insurance Model
WASHINGTON D.C. - As part of the Senate Budget Committee's ongoing oversight of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Republican members of the Committee sent a letter to the agency encouraging it to release details of its new health insurance simulation model (HISIM) to the public prior to its use next spring. The members also asked CBO to consider re-estimating federal spending and coverage under the Affordable Care Act using the new health care model to determine whether the agency's estima… Continue Reading
09.13.18
BUDGET BULLETIN - The Complex Case of Pell Grant Budgeting
The Pell Grant program is the largest single source of grant aid to postsecondary students, with federal spending on the program totaling $30.6 billion in fiscal year 2018. This needbased program also has one of the most complex funding structures in the federal budget, involving a mix of discretionary funding and two separate mandatory spending streams. READ MORE… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Chairman Enzi: CBO’s Analyses Must Be Timely, Objective, Accurate, and Transparent
WASHINGTON D.C. - During a Senate Budget Committee hearing focused on the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) expanded transparency initiatives, Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) said that CBO should continue to focus on producing accurate and objective budget estimates in a transparent manner. "In the more than 40 years since CBO's inception, Congress and the public have come to depend on CBO for its budget and economic analyses - analyses that we all agree must be timely, objective, accurate, and tra… Continue Reading
08.02.18
BUDGET BULLETIN - Appropriations with Expired Authorizations
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently updated its annual Expired and Expiring Authorizations of Appropriations report to reflect enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. The updated report shows that of the $1.4 trillion in discretionary spending provided for 2018, $318 billion was spent on 1,035 agencies, programs, and functions with expired authorizations of appropriations from 261 different laws. View the August 2 Budget Bulletin online here.… Continue Reading
07.19.18
Chairmen Enzi and Alexander Request Report on Cost of Student Loan Repayments
WASHINGTON D.C. - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) are asking the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to examine the effects of federal student loan policies on borrowing, loan repayment, cancellation, discharge, and forgiveness. The chairmen are seeking information on income-driven-repayment (IDR) plans. IDR plans allow student borrowers to pay a percentage of their discretionary income e… Continue Reading
07.18.18
BUDGET BULLETIN - Cap Adjustments: How the Government Raises Its Spending Limit
The 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) allows for several cap adjustments to increase spending for specified purposes without triggering a breach of statutory spending limits. These adjustments, which have grown in number in successive spending deals, have supported a staggering $890 billion in discretionary spending beyond the BCA's base caps. View the July 18 Budget Bulletin online here.… Continue Reading
07.17.18
Budget Chairmen Urge Conference Committee to Prioritize Veterans within Existing Spending Limits
WASHINGTON, DC - This week, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and House Budget Committee Chairman Steve Womack (AR-03) sent a letter to the members of the conference committee for H.R. 5895, the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. In the letter, the chairmen urged conferees to prioritize funding for the programs authorized in the VA MISSION Act, which was signed into law on June 6, 2018, within existing spe… Continue Reading
