Press Releases
Smith: Our Economy is Shrinking Under President Biden
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after economic data showed U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at a 1.4 percent annualized rate during the first three months of the year: “Under President Biden, our economy is now shrinking. Today’s dismal economic report is another alarm bell going off about the damage President Biden’s policies are causing to the American economy and the workers and businesses who … Continue Reading
April 28, 2022
Biden’s Defense Budget Focuses Billions on Climate Change, “Extremism” in the Military, and “Equity” as Border, Inflation, and Global Crises Rage On
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, during a hearing of the House Budget Committee with Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller Michael McCord, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) criticized President Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget for failing to address or take seriously the crises facing the American people – specifically with regards to national defense. During his opening remarks, Smith laid out the misplaced priorities in the … Continue Reading
April 27, 2022
Smith Opening Statement: President Biden's DOD FY23 Budget
As Delivered. Welcome, Under Secretary McCord. Thank you for being here. The last time you were here, America was facing a number of crises - at the border, at the checkout line, at the gas pump. Republicans warned that the agenda President Biden was pursuing would only make these crises worse. Sadly, it turns out that we were right. Prices have spiked to the highest levels in forty years - a 10.4 percent increase since Joe Biden took office. The cost of gas is through the roof - … Continue Reading
April 20, 2022
Biden Spending Billions on Costly Student Loan Waivers, Pushing Bailouts for the Wealthy
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the Biden Administration waived student loan debts for 40,000 borrowers - at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $3 billion - while erasing three years off of student loan repayment obligations for another 3.6 million borrowers, adding billions more in cost to taxpayers: “President Biden continues to pursue a permanent pandemic narrative at a tremendous cost to American … Continue Reading
April 14, 2022
Biden's FY23 Budget: Border Crisis
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last month, President Biden released his fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget, which deliberately doubles down on the failed policies that created the worst border crisis in over 20 years. The President’s budget makes cuts to critical agencies responsible for securing the border, even as the Administration prepares to end the Title 42 border policy, which will result in more than double the current number of illegal border crossings per day - projected to reach 18,000. “President … Continue Reading
April 12, 2022
Smith: Biden’s Inflation Crisis Has Turned the American Dream into an Unaffordable Nightmare for Working Americans
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the Consumer Price Index showed inflation hitting a forty-year high for the fifth consecutive month, of 8.5 percent: “President Biden’s inflation crisis has turned the American Dream into an unaffordable nightmare for working Americans. Biden’s policies are robbing families and retirees of their hard-earned savings and undercutting workers’ wages more and more each … Continue Reading
April 07, 2022
Smith Exposes Billions in COVID Waste, Taxpayer Funds Diverted to Biden’s Border Crisis During Budget Hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, during a hearing of the House Budget Committee with the Biden Administration’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) exposed the Biden Administration’s failed COVID response, including billions in misspent and wasted tax dollars from the American Rescue Plan – funding Democrats claim was meant to fight COVID but instead went towards local and state … Continue Reading
April 06, 2022
Smith Opening Statement: President Biden's HHS FY23 Budget
As prepared for delivery. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, Secretary Becerra. As the head of HHS, you oversee one of the largest budgets in the entire federal government - annually well over $1 trillion. For 2023, President Biden’s Budget has proposed giving you a 12% raise to $1.7 trillion. Over the past 2 years, Congress has also given your department trillions more to fight COVID. Such levels of funding demand a thorough examination of how, when, and where you have chosen to … Continue Reading
April 06, 2022
Smith Statement on Another Biden Administration Extension of Student Loan Payment Moratorium
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the Biden Administration extended the student loan payment moratorium for the fourth time: “Once again, Democrat COVID hypocrisy prevails. Despite claims that the American people can return to their normal life, President Biden is continuing to use a permanent pandemic narrative to keep COVID-era policies in place and side with the wealthy interests of his party over the … Continue Reading
April 05, 2022
Smith Slams Biden's Costly Bypass of Congress to Expand Obamacare
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the Biden Administration announced a new regulation to expand government subsidized health care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without Congressional authorization - addressing a provision within the ACA that Democrats call a “glitch” and feel hampers their efforts to enroll more Americans in Washington-dictated health care plans: “Today’s announcement is just the … Continue Reading
April 05, 2022
Biden's FY23 Budget: Energy Crisis
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week, President Biden released his fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget, which deliberately doubles down on the failed policies that have created an American energy crisis and led to the highest gas prices in 13 years. The cost of gas has increased 81 percent since President Biden took office - with the average price at the pump over $4 per gallon - that will cost American families an average increase of $2,000 per year. The President’s budget proposes making the current pain … Continue Reading
April 04, 2022
Biden's FY23 Budget: Spending & Inflation Crisis
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week, President Biden released his FY 2023 budget, which deliberately doubles down on the failed policies that have created the worst inflation crisis in 40 years while deliberately assuming the crisis will simply disappear. As confirmed by the Congressional Budget Office, Americans are watching in real time as skyrocketing prices overwhelm their wages. Worsening this crisis, the President’s budget proposes $73 trillion in spending over the next 10 years - the highest … Continue Reading
March 29, 2022
Smith Slams Biden Budget at Hearing: “Deliberately Makes Every Crisis He Created Worse”
Washington, D.C. – Today, during a hearing of the House Budget Committee with the Biden Administration’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) slammed President Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget for doubling down on the Democrats’ agenda of reckless spending, high taxes, mounting debt, and weak borders that created and are fueling the many crises American families are now … Continue Reading
March 29, 2022
Smith Opening Statement: President Biden's FY23 Budget
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Director Young, welcome back to the House Budget Committee. Congratulations on your confirmation as Director and on becoming a new mom last year. I’m very happy for you and your family. When you testified last year on President Biden’s FY22 budget, alarm bells were already going off about the impact the president’s agenda would have on the economy, on inflation, and on the security of our southern border. At that time, the crises created by President Biden and … Continue Reading
March 29, 2022
Biden's FY23 Budget: Another Year of Crisis
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, President Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget which includes: $73 trillion in spending – a 66% increase over the previous 10 years $58 trillion in taxes – a 80% increase over the previous 10 years $16 trillion in new public debt with $1+ trillion deficits every year for the next 10 years. Following the release of the President’s FY23 budget, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) released a memo … Continue Reading
March 28, 2022
Smith: “The President’s 2023 Budget Deliberately Makes Every Crisis He Created Worse.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement today after President Biden submitted his fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request to Congress: “Under President Biden, the American people are finding it more difficult and more expensive to put food on their tables, gas in their cars, and clothes on their backs. The President has presided over one developing crisis after another - none of which are happening by accident. Whether … Continue Reading
March 16, 2022
Smith in Budget Hearing Calls Out Democrat Policies that Sidelined Working Women and Reckless Spending that Sparked Record Inflation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Budget Committee today held a hearing titled “Ensuring Women Can Thrive in a Post Pandemic Economy” to analyze the economic and social impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women and what lessons can be learned from the response to the pandemic. House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) discussed in his opening statement how the labor force participation of women was disproportionately impacted not because of the COVID-19 … Continue Reading
March 16, 2022
Smith Opening Statement: Ensuring Women Can Thrive in a Post-Pandemic Economy
As prepared for delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is fair to say that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women. It is also important to acknowledge that much of that negative impact came in the form of policies enacted in response to the pandemic. For example, working mothers represent 27 percent of Americans who left the work force during the pandemic - and school closures played a huge part. According to a 2020 study mothers were almost 70 percent less likely to be … Continue Reading
March 16, 2022
Smith Op-Ed: The Right to Know: Shining a Light on Health Care Costs
By Rep. Jason Smith Washington Times Imagine going to the grocery store and shopping for food and goods without knowing how much your bill will total until you are in the checkout line or back at home preparing to eat. When it comes to pricing in our current health care system, this is how patients feel. When patients walk into a hospital for surgery, their fear is walking out with a bill that is hundreds or thousands more than they were expecting to pay. In 2020, total health care … Continue Reading
March 15, 2022
Smith Op-Ed: One Year Later: Why Biden's "American Rescue" Failed
Smith Op-Ed: One Year Later: Why Biden's "American Rescue" Failed By Rep. Jason Smith Washington Examiner Friday marked the anniversary of President Joe Biden signing his $2 trillion American Rescue Plan into law. Although Biden and Democrats argued every which way about the urgent need to pass the monstrous bill, Congress had by that time already enacted $4 trillion in combined spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, Biden argued the country was on his side, and that … Continue Reading
