Wichita Standard

The House Budget Committee has approved Representative Ron Estes' Executive Action Cost Transparency Act. This bill aims to enhance transparency and accountability by requiring the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to include a separate table in its baseline or baseline update, detailing the cost of judicial and executive actions that exceed $50 billion over ten years.

The CBO annually publishes and updates a baseline that outlines the nation's fiscal situation and a 10-year economic outlook. This baseline helps measure the cost of legislative proposals and their impact on economic growth, inflation, and the national deficit.

"In order to legislate effectively and tackle our growing debt crisis, lawmakers in Congress need to know how much money is being spent across the whole government," said Rep. Estes. "By requiring the CBO to delineate the cost of certain actions that CBO considers, my bill will help Congress and the American people better grasp the cost of administrative actions so we can get our spending under control."

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which established the CBO. Congress has a duty to ensure that CBO provides accurate, timely, and complete information on legislation and the economy. Rep. Estes' bill is part of a package of CBO reform bills passed by the Budget Committee today.

Rep. Estes expressed his appreciation for marking up these critical bills aimed at reforming the CBO during his remarks before the committee.

"Mr. Chairman, as members of the Budget Committee, we're responsible for producing a budget that will guide spending for the next fiscal year in a fiscally responsible manner," said Rep. Estes.

He emphasized that while executive and judicial actions are already factored into CBO's baseline, this bill would require a separate table detailing those costs if they meet a threshold of $50 billion over ten years.

"When lawmakers don't have access to details of non-legislative spending, it's like a family or small business making financial decisions while someone else is spending some of their money on unknown goods and services," he added.

Rep. Estes highlighted that recent administrations have issued costly executive actions contributing significantly to national debt. He noted that in just three-and-a-half years, over 130 executive actions from the Biden-Harris administration have cost taxpayers more than $2 trillion.

"My Executive Action Cost Transparency Act would require CBO to provide a comprehensive list of costly administrative actions since their last baseline or update," he explained.

Rep. Estes urged bipartisan support for his bill: "This bill isn't controversial – it just makes sense... As lawmakers elected by our constituents, we should know how much our government is spending on things before we pass new legislation – and spend more money."

He concluded by stressing transparency: "I urge my colleagues – Republican and Democrat – to join me in reforming CBO and bringing greater transparency and accountability to administrative activity."

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