House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington testified before the House Rules Committee on July 20 to advocate for the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2027. The resolution aims to unlock reconciliation measures intended to support U.S. troops, strengthen the national food supply, and secure elections.
In his opening remarks, Arrington said, “The American people deserve better than what they’ve gotten for the last year and a half. But what they’ve gotten is a Democrat Party that I don’t recognize in my ten years of service: persistent, habitual, never-ending obstruction to stop the President from succeeding in advancing the policies and the agenda the American people overwhelmingly supported and voted for—unilateral Republican leadership in Congress alongside of this President. That has made it difficult to govern.”
Arrington criticized recent government shutdowns and accused Democratic colleagues of obstructing efforts to fund federal agencies. He said, “Exhibit A: the first shutdown of the entire federal government over a clean CR…the first time a clean CR was rejected just to keep the government funding at last year’s funding levels until we could meet out a compromise solution.” He also addressed issues related to program integrity measures aimed at preventing waste and fraud within safety net programs.
Arrington further described challenges faced during negotiations over Department of Homeland Security funding and noted that Republicans used reconciliation procedures after Democrats withheld votes on certain appropriations. “They held the American people’s security hostage until we used a reconciliation bill to break the obstruction and fund ICE and CBP because they defunded it,” he said.
He concluded by emphasizing urgent priorities: “Support our troops. Strengthen our food supply. And safeguard the integrity of our elections.” Quoting former Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding election security concerns after 2016, Arrington said, “Well, here’s where I agree with her: we have a duty to protect our democracy…when half the country has little to no confidence in the outcome of our elections because we don’t have basic safeguards like a photo ID, I think it is incumbent upon us to act and act with purpose and with urgency.”
The House Budget Committee is affiliated with key committees such as Ways and Means and Appropriations; it oversees federal spending through annual budget resolutions, develops guidelines for spending targets, uses reconciliation processes when needed, collaborates with independent analysts from the Congressional Budget Office, and is chaired by Jodey Arrington, according to its official website.