This week, House and Senate Budget Committee Chairmen Paul Ryan and Patty Murray announced that budget conferees had reached a bipartisan agreement to prevent another government shutdown. According to the Congressional Research Service, it has been more than 14 years since the House, Senate and president have agreed on a budget to fund the government for a full fiscal year. Under regular order, the House and Senate agree on a budget and then write 12 spending bills based on the levels agreed to in the budget. These spending bills will individually be sent to the president to be signed into law.

While this agreement is far from perfect, it will end some of the gridlock in Washington and serves as proof that Republicans and Democrats can still put their differences aside, negotiate in good faith and work together to address the problems our country faces. Most importantly, this bipartisan plan will return the budgeting process to regular order, meaning we will no longer rely on temporary continuing resolutions to fund government operations.

Because of the shutdown, many Americans became familiar with the term continuing resolution, or CR. A CR is a short-term funding bill that allows for the government to remain open at the previous year’s levels, even when Congress doesn’t send the president appropriations bills to be signed into law. CRs are not ideal because they limit the ability of Congress to look at individual line items in the overall budget, making it difficult to cut wasteful spending in a responsible way. Returning to regular order will not only help avert future government shutdowns, it will also return the power of the purse strings to Congress, rather than leaving spending on autopilot. Congress needs to be evaluating every government program each year by looking at each line item of the budget and identifying opportunities to cut spending, shrink the size of government and continue our work to get our fiscal house back in order. 

As an added feature, this plan will reduce the deficit by $23 billion. This proposal does not raise taxes and eases the pain of sequestration being felt nationwide, particularly on our nation’s defense capabilities, which were being stretched very thin. Again, no compromise is perfect, but this is a strong step in the right direction.

I commend Rep. Ryan and Sen. Murray on their leadership and their willingness to work across the aisle. I believe we can find common ground that still reflects our conservative principles to and I hope this agreement will pave the way for more bicameral, bipartisan work in the future. 

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