{"id":2007337,"date":"2023-08-21T18:47:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T22:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-mcmorris-rodgers-wants-to-take-zombie-federal-spending-programs-off-autopilot\/"},"modified":"2023-08-21T18:48:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T22:48:57","slug":"rep-mcmorris-rodgers-wants-to-take-zombie-federal-spending-programs-off-autopilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-mcmorris-rodgers-wants-to-take-zombie-federal-spending-programs-off-autopilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. McMorris Rodgers aims to end mindless federal spending programs."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frep-mcmorris-rodgers-wants-to-take-zombie-federal-spending-programs-off-autopilot%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2007337&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Unfinished Business: Congress Faces Budgeting Challenges<\/h2>\n<p>When Congress returns after Labor Day, its top priority will be completing work on 12 \u2064major spending bills before the end of the fiscal\u200b year on September 30. This is crucial to avoid a government shutdown crisis, which has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alec-baldwin-charged-with-involuntary-manslaughter-in-rust-movie-set-shooting\/\" title=\"Alec Baldwin Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in \"Rust\" Movie Set Shooting\">occurred multiple times<\/a> since 2013.\u200c However, these incomplete spending bills are just a part of the budgeting\u200c challenges \u200bthat Congress must\u200b address.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, there are over 1,100 federal\u2062 spending \u200bprograms and agencies \u2062worth an estimated $510 \u2062billion that continue \u200cto receive funding, even though \u200btheir authorizations expired many years ago. House \u200cEnergy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers describes these programs as being &#8220;on autopilot,&#8221; \u2062while budget experts refer \u200cto them as &#8220;Zombie&#8221; federal spending. It is clear \u2063that Congress needs to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-sick-employees-truckers-to-blame-for-empty-shelves-in-grocery-stores\/\" title=\"Report: Sick Employees, Truckers to Blame for Empty Shelves in Grocery Stores\u00a0\">make tough decisions<\/a> \u200dabout which \u2064programs and agencies should \u200ccontinue to exist.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Outdated Authorizations<\/h3>\n<p>Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers highlights several examples of federal agencies that have not \u200cbeen reauthorized \u200bfor decades. \u2063The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Energy Regulatory\u200d Commission (FERC), and National Telecommunications Information Agency (NTIA) are among \u2063those that have been operating without\u2063 proper \u200bauthorization.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>One of the most glaring examples of a Zombie federal agency is the Centers\u2063 for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), which has never been authorized.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>The \u2063Centers\u200d for \u2062Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, \u200dGa., in a file image. Congress has never reauthorized the CDC. (Tami Chappell via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To address this issue, Washington state Republicans have introduced the &#8220;Unauthorized Spending Accountability Act&#8221; (USAA). This\u200c legislation aims to establish a process that forces Congress to take action. The USAA proposes a three-year cycle, where programs and agencies that\u200c are not reauthorized face\u200b reductions in \u2064their overall spending. If they\u2063 still haven&#8217;t been reauthorized by the end of the third year, they would be terminated.<\/p>\n<p>Passing the USAA would shift the burden of \u2063proof \u2062onto the agencies, making them more\u200c accountable\u200c and responsive. Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers believes that this legislation would be a \u2062game-changer, disrupting the status quo and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not \u200dspent on autopilot.<\/p>\n<p>Although the USAA \u2064has been introduced in previous Congresses, it has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-mcmorris-rodgers-wants-to-take-zombie-federal-spending-programs-off-autopilot\/\" title=\"Rep. McMorris Rodgers aims to end mindless federal spending programs.\">gained significant support recently<\/a>. All 23 \u2064Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and\u200c Accountability\u2064 voted \u2064to send the\u200d bill to the \u2064House floor for consideration. This newfound support, including from House Majority Leader Steve \u200bScalise, indicates that \u200cRepublicans\u200d are \u2064recognizing\u200c the need for fundamental reforms to address the fiscal \u2064crisis.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>House Majority\u2062 Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) speaks to reporters following\u2062 a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S.\u200c Capitol in \u2064Washington,\u200d on Jan. 31, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch\/Getty\u200d Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers \u200demphasizes that funding \u2064is a \u2064constitutional \u2062responsibility of the representatives of the people. Congress has the\u2062 oversight responsibility to ensure that agencies operate within the\u200c directives given to them by Congress. It is time for\u2064 Congress to take action and \u200bmake the necessary reforms.<\/p>\n<p>Despite \u200bthe\u2064 importance of the USAA,\u2063 there has \u2064been some hesitation among \u200cRepublicans to move the proposal through Congress. Kevin \u2064Kosar from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) finds this reticence puzzling\u2064 and urges Republicans to prioritize the \u2063passage\u200c of the USAA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Congress reconvenes after Labor Day, their top priority will be finishing 12 major spending bills before September 30 to prevent a government shutdown. This has been a recurring issue since 2013, during President Obama&#8217;s tenure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":2007338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2007337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2007337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2007338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2007337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2007337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2007337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}