WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) is defending his “yea” vote on the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
On a bipartisan vote of 314-117 on Wednesday evening, the House passed that measure, suspending the national debt limit until after the 2024 presidential election and thereby averting a financial crisis when the government’s ability to borrow money runs out next week.
“When I ran for Congress,” Moore explained, “I committed to use my role…to reverse Washington’s dangerous debt culture.”
Moore said that he regards supporting the Fiscal Responsibility Act as a significant step toward reversing runaway federal spending.
The bill won support from majorities of both parties, though more Democrats voted for it than Republicans. Republicans voted 149-71 for the Fiscal Responsibility Act, while Democrats voted 165-46.
The deal, brokered by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Joe Biden last weekend, would couple debt limit relief with caps on discretionary spending that Republicans said would serve as a down payment on deficit reduction efforts.
The bill now headed to the U.S. Senate is a far cry from the initial GOP-backed legislation the House passed last month. That proposal included more dramatic cuts that promised $4.8 trillion in deficit savings through fiscal 2033.
The new compromise, which would hold domestic spending relatively flat while allowing defense and veterans spending to increase, will likely save at most $2.1 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.
But Moore chooses to regard that CBO estimate as a victory.
“While there is still much more work to be done,” Moore acknowledged, “this historic legislation could reduce our national deficit by $2.1 trillion over 6 years.”
Moore also praised the bill for adding “common-sense work requirements to SNAP and TANF to save taxpayer dollars and lift more Americans out of poverty.”
Moore was referring to the debt deal’s provisions to reform assistance programs by mandating a 20-hour work-week requirement for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) benefits under the age of 54.
Those provisions incensed most of the 46 left-leaning House Democrats who voted against the bill, along with its modifications made to the environmental review process for federal energy projects.
But Moore is strongly in favor of those latter provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, saying that the GOP was successful in reforming the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the first time in 40 years, which will green-light more American energy and infrastructure projects without crippling restrictions and procedural hurdles.
The proposal now in the Senate also takes back COVID funds; cuts funds to China through the Centers for Disease Control’s Global Health Fund; and curtails Biden’s efforts to forgive student loan payments.
“Did we get everything we wanted out of this deal? Of course not,” Moore admits. “That’s the reality of divided government.
“House Republicans will continue to fight for spending cuts and conservative policies. But the provisions in this legislation are a win for Utahns and they will put us in the position to achieve more success in the future.”
In the U.S. Senate, the Fiscal Responsibility Act is expected to pass by this weekend after being endorsed by both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).