Sanders Statement on the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act

Statement

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement as the Committee prepares to mark up S.2765, the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act:

"While I appreciate Chairman Enzi and Senator Whitehouse's hard work in putting together a package to reform the budget process, I do not support the bill in its current form.

"Though this bill has some positive aspects, at its core is the creation of a new, expansive 'budget reconciliation' process that could be used by Republicans to unilaterally cut programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and nutrition assistance--all supposedly to reduce the deficit.

"This new proposed process comes less than two years after Republicans on this Committee showed no hesitation in adding $2 trillion to deficit in order to pass the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest families and the most profitable corporations in America, using the budget reconciliation process.

"At a time when Senate Republicans came within one vote of kicking 32 million Americans off their health care, the last thing we need is a new Senate procedure that could help speed through a repeat of that effort."

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