(CNSNews.com) – Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said he opposed the budget deal crafted by President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) because he believes in and ran on “fiscal discipline.” He added that after the 2020 elections, he hopes the congressional leadership and the president will “take budget issues seriously.”
Under the legislation, the federal government will not only be able to spend more on discretionary programs (including both Defense and non-Defense programs) but will also be able to borrow a limitless amount of money.
At the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, July 30, CNSNews.com asked Senator Braun, “The recent budget deal passed by the House allows the government to borrow a limitless amount of money until July 31, 2021. Do you support that?”
The senator said, “No I do not. You want to know why? I think that’s been the trajectory we’ve been on for a long time. I think we’ll probably end up passing that through here in the Senate [on Aug. 1]. And I know the political pickle we’re in with government shutdowns, and debt ceilings, and caps.”
“But I ran clearly on fiscal discipline,” said Sen. Braun. “So it wasn’t easy when you base what you do on principle, to where I could never support anything like that. And I’m hoping that leadership, including the president, will take budget issues seriously after we win in November 2020. And I’ll be there to echo that same point of view.
The bill passed the Senate on Aug. 1 and President Trump signed it into law on Aug. 2.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus staunchly opposed the bill and said in a statement, “Our country is undeniably headed down a path of fiscal insolvency and rapidly approaching $23 trillion in debt. This is completely unsustainable, and we owe taxpayers and future generations better.
“We should be working together on a bipartisan basis to cut spending and balance our budget—or, at bare minimum, holding to the existing spending caps to prevent a significant problem from becoming even worse.”