Oversight
Sessions: 12 Million More Americans Outside Workforce Today Than In 2009
"Three-fourths of Americans say we remain in a recession-and there are sound reasons for such personal beliefs. Declines in wages and the percentage of people actually working have been hammer blows to working families." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that a record high number of Americans are not in the labor force: "The jobs report does not signal that l… Continue Reading
10.02.14
The Obama Economy: A Chart Book
The great economic tragedy of our time is the erosion of the American middle class. Millions of Americans find themselves locked out of the American Dream. Their wages are either flat or falling, even as the price of energy and goods surges; the labor force is shrinking; and the government stimulus which was claimed to lift the economy to prosperity has instead sunk the nation into a chasm of debt. This chart book highlights what working people know all too well: under President Obama, economic… Continue Reading
09.30.14
GAO: Obama Admin Has No Legal Authority To Make Risk Corridor Payments Without Congressional Action
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statements today after the Government Accountability Office issued a legal opinion at their request regarding the risk corridor program in Obamacare: "GAO has confirmed beyond dispute that the Department of Health and Human Services has no legal authority to disburse risk corridor payments under Oba… Continue Reading
09.18.14
Sessions Opposes Continuing Resolution
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the passage of a short-term, stopgap funding bill: "Once again, we were asked to vote for a massive, catch-all bill to fund the entire government without an opportunity to meaningfully review it, and we were blocked by Leader Reid from offering a single amendment. Leader Reid has strong-armed the Senate to shut down debate and rush through legislation at the 1… Continue Reading
09.09.14
Sessions Sounds Alarm Over HHS Policy Allowing Welfare Cash To Be Withdrawn In Marijuana Stores
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding a response he recently received from the Department of Health and Human Services to his oversight letter on welfare payments being withdrawn at marijuana dispensaries: "The federal government current spends roughly $750 billion each year on means-tested welfare programs across 80 different accounts. This money is administered by a vast, sprawling bureaucracy w… Continue Reading
09.05.14
Sessions: Under Obama, 13 Million More Adults But 7 Million Fewer Workers
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the August jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: "Today's jobs report came in far below expectations. Twice as many people left the labor force last month as found jobs, and there are now 92.3 million people outside the workforce entirely. The number of workers in the labor force has fallen by more than 7 million since President Obama took office, e… Continue Reading
08.27.14
SBC Staff Analysis Of CBO’s Updated Budget And Economic Outlook
The Budget OutlookAccording to CBO's updated budget projections released today, the federal government is on track to spend $3.5 trillion in the fiscal year ending September 30. Tax collections will total $3.0 trillion, resulting in a deficit of $506 billion. This estimate is $14 billion above CBO's April estimate of $492 billion, and is the net effect of lower revenues of $26 billon and lower spending of $11 billion (difference due to rounding). Spending will grow by 65 percent between 2014 an… Continue Reading
08.01.14
Sessions: 4 In 10 American Adults Not Working
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after the release of the July jobs report: "Our economy continues to perform at an unacceptable level: 4 in 10 U.S. adults are either unemployed or not in the workforce at all. Unemployment for Americans without a high school diploma stands at 9.6 percent. Youth unemployment is 20.2 percent. For African-American youth, is it 34.9 percent. Median household income is $2,0… Continue Reading
07.15.14
CBO Report: After Doubling In Last Six Years, Debt Will Explode In Coming Decades
The latest Long-Term Budget Outlook of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that debt held by the public will grow from almost $13 trillion today to $21 trillion 10 years from now and $53 trillion in 25 years under the assumption that current law is unchanged. (CBO discusses only public debt in its long-term outlook, but it is necessary to bear in mind that gross debt, which includes intragovernmental obligations that must be honored, is and will continue to be significantly higher.) P… Continue Reading
07.11.14
The President’s Mid-Session Review Of The FY 2015 Budget
President Obama's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) now projects that the deficit for Fiscal Year 2014 (which ends September 30) will be $583 billion. This is $66 billion lower than the $649 billion 2014 deficit projected by OMB in March of this year, and $91 billion higher than the $492 billion 2014 deficit projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in April. OMB further projects that the enactment of the President's policies would result in a deficit of $525 billion next year (FY … Continue Reading
07.10.14
Sessions Details Case Against OMB Nominee Shaun Donovan
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following prepared remarks on the Senate floor today ahead of the vote on HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget: "Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the nomination of Shaun Donovan to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. I voted against Mr. Donovan in the Budget Committee, and would like to take this opportunity to share with my c… Continue Reading
07.01.14
Sessions Asks Why Medicare Agency Can’t Prevent Fraud, Recover Known Improper Payments
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent a letter today to the Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the payment of improper claims in the Medicare fee for service program. The text of Sessions' letter follows: "Dear Administrator Tavenner: The Medicare Integrity Program ("MIP") at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") is charged with detecting and preventing improper Medicare payments. On… Continue Reading
06.25.14
Sessions On GDP Revision: ‘A Tragic Collision With Reality’
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the final GDP estimates for the first quarter of 2014: "Growth last year was 1.9%-less than half of the White House predicted in 2009. And in 2012, the White House predicted growth this year would be 4.0%. But with a first quarter GDP contraction of -2.9% (a dramatic downward revision from initial estimates of positive 0.1% growth), the economy would need to a… Continue Reading
06.24.14
Ranking Member Sessions Opposes Donovan Nomination To Head OMB
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after voting in committee against the nomination of HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget: "During this time of growing financial danger, the Office of Management and Budget should be led by one of the most disciplined and skilled financial managers in the country. Instead, in Mr. Donovan, we have an inexperienced nom… Continue Reading
06.19.14
HHS Ignores Rule Of Law To Transfer Billions Of Dollars To Insurers Through PPACA Risk Corridor Program
WASHINGTON-The Department of Health and Human Services this week responded to a recent letter from Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) regarding the department's legal authority to issue payments under the President's health care law's risk corridor program. Now, HHS argues that the risk corridor program would be considered a user fee in order to justify its authority to make payments under the program, bu… Continue Reading
06.18.14
Sessions Testifies Before House Oversight Committee On HHS’ Lack Of Legal Authority To Make Obamacare Risk Corridor Payments
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following prepared remarks today in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: "Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Cartwright, and members of the Committee: thank you for inviting me here today to discuss a specific concern that our Budget Committee staff has identified with the risk corridor program in the President's health law. But the issue is much broader than … Continue Reading
06.12.14
Sessions Warns That HHS Risk Corridor Payments Under Obamacare Would Be Illegal
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the letter he and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) sent to new Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell: "It is plain that under current law, the Obama Administration does not have the ability to divert money from programs that Congress has funded to one that it has not. Congress alone was given the power of the purse-th… Continue Reading
06.11.14
Sessions Opening Statement At Hearing On The Nomination Of President’s Budget Director
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following prepared remarks today regarding the nomination of Shaun Donovan to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget: "Secretary Donovan, thank you for joining us here today. You will get a fair hearing, and I will carefully consider your record and your testimony here today in reaching my decision about whether to support your confirmation. The Director of the Office of Managem… Continue Reading
06.11.14
Sessions, Upton Press HHS For Answers On ‘Unlawful’ Risk Corridor Payments
In letter to Secretary Burwell: "Under current law, payments made under the risk corridor program would constitute an unlawful transfer of potentially billions of taxpayer dollars…" WASHINGTON-Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) today released a letter to newly-installed Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell regarding the legal ability of HHS to issue payments to health insurance prov… Continue Reading
06.06.14
Sessions: 7 Million People Have Left The Workforce Since The President Took Office
"There are still 3.2 million fewer full-time employed persons than there were in 2007. Since President Obama came into office in 2009, 7.2 million people have left the workforce entirely. One out of every six men aged 25-54 is not working." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the May jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: "Today's jobs numbers are only enough to tread even with popula… Continue Reading
