The Hill
Sen. Rick Scott
July 11, 2024

With America’s national debt about to climb above $35 trillion, and the 20 percent rise in inflation since January 2021 continuing to plague families, you would hope that the Senate Democrats would be eager to craft a spending plan that tackles these issues. Unfortunately, with just five session weeks until the federal government runs out of funds, Democrats in the Senate have so far totally failed to do their job.

We’ve seen this happen before. We cannot grant them victory in this failure by approving another inflation-bomb omnibus spending bill this year.

While Senate Democrats finally scheduled markup hearings for some appropriations bills this week, don’t let that convince you that they have not purposefully failed to do the work necessary to responsibly fund the government. With just five weeks left until the government is out of money, not one of the 12 appropriations bills has been passed.

There are few things that more clearly expose Washington’s dysfunction than our broken government funding process. Almost every year, we see the same process play out, and this is how it goes.

For months, Senate Democrats simply sit on appropriations bills, even if Republicans on the Appropriations Committee have worked in good faith to take the initial step of moving the bills to the Senate floor. Then, as the funding deadline creeps closer, politicians throw their hands up and say the government is out of time and soon will be out of money. Then, without any scrutiny or debate or amendments, a massive spending bill is passed to avoid a shutdown.

Anyone opposing the swift passage of this reckless spending is labelled by Democrats and the Washington establishment as an obstructionist who is trying to shut down the government. That’s a lie and everyone knows it, but that is the punishment you will face if you call out Washington for incompetence and failure.

It’s time to force a change in Washington that brings back fiscal sanity and makes Congress chart a path for the federal government to live within its means. That’s the only way to stop reckless spending, combat inflation and start paying down our nearly $35 trillion national debt.  

Look at what’s happened to our country under President Joe Biden, and it’s clear that the need for change couldn’t be greater.

The national debt has skyrocketed by nearly $8 trillion and, instead of pushing fiscal responsibility that reverses America’s financial decline, Biden has doubled down and proposed a $6.8 trillion budget.

To understand how insane that proposal is, think about this: The U.S. population since 2019 has increased by only 2 percent, but the budget has increased 55 percent during the same time. That is equal to $400,000 in spending per new person in the population.

This madness has to end. When Republicans regain control of Washington, we must stop caving to Democrats’ radical agenda and put America back on the path to fiscal sanity. But I also believe that fight can’t wait until after the election. It is obvious that Democratic senators have no interest in working with Republicans.

The federal government is sleepwalking into a massive fiscal buzzsaw that is completely avoidable.

So here is a proposal for the Democrats: Let’s pass a continuing resolution, free of earmarks and liberal policy riders, that funds our government until sometime next Congress. And while we are at it, let’s also pass the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act and prioritize floor consideration of national security spending that is focused on lethal fighting power. Even with the snail’s pace at which Washington operates, these are absolutely doable before the end of the fiscal year. This would give Republican senators on the Appropriations Committee the opportunity for true discussion, true dialogue and better results for the American people.

It’s time to stand up and demand fiscal sanity, and call out the inaction of Democrats whose only aim is to preserve a big government, big spending and big regulation regime.

We have two options before us: Dramatically change the way Washington functions, or accept the status quo and lose our country to massive debt — and the instability that it will create. Fighting for change is the only hope we have to save our great nation.

Sen. Rick Scott represents Florida in the U.S. Senate. He is the former governor of Florida.