Washington, DC – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced today that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will serve on the Joint Select Committee tasked with overhauling Congress’s budget and appropriations process.
“These days, the only thing we can expect from our budget process is a useless cycle of fiscal standoffs and shutdown threats,” said Whitehouse. “This committee can help us repair the current system to guide federal spending and revenues in a responsible manner. I’ve been outspoken about this in the Budget Committee, so I’m proud to join this important effort. Thank you to Leader Schumer for naming me to this committee.”
As part of the spending agreement passed earlier this month, Congress agreed to establish a bicameral, bipartisan select committee to make recommendations for improving the budget and appropriations process and end the cycle of funding crises of recent months. The committee will hold at least three public hearings in the coming months and will be charged with submitting “recommendations and legislative language that will significantly reform the budget and appropriations process” by November 30, 2018.
Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Budget and Finance Committees, is a strong advocate for overhauling the budget process. In October, Whitehouse joined Senator David Perdue (R-GA) in sponsoring an amendment to the fiscal year 2018 budget highlighting the need for a new budget process.
In addition to Whitehouse, Democratic Senators on the committee will include Michael Bennet (D-CO), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).
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