Press Releases
Smith Op-Ed: Biden's 'infrastructure' plan is a Washington power grab
By Rep. Jason Smith washingtonexaminer.com When President Joe Biden recently announced a $2.3 trillion spending plan, on the heels of the nearly $2 trillion bailout bill enacted in March, some Democrats in Washington complained. Their complaints: The price tag was not big enough, and the Washington power grab was not ambitious enough. These are the same folks who, since taking back the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, have presided over roughly $9 trillion being … Continue Reading
April 09, 2021
Smith Statement on Biden’s Back-of-the-Envelope Budget
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement in response to the Biden Administration’s release of a discretionary spending outline for Fiscal Year 2022. The outline comes nearly 70 days after the statutory deadline for the President to submit a budget and after President Biden has already taken multiple executive actions that have substantial fiscal, economic, and national security impacts and signed nearly $2 trillion in … Continue Reading
April 09, 2021
Smith, Comer Call for Review of New York’s Funding for Illegal Immigrants Following Billions in Federal Bailout Money to the State
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) and House Oversight and Reform Committee Republican Leader James Comer (KY-01) sent a letter today to Gene Sperling - who was recently appointed by President Biden to provide oversight of the $1.9 trillion bailout bill enacted last month - regarding concerns that the State of New York may be funneling billions of federal dollars to illegal immigrants. The letter notes that the reportedly $2.1 billion sum to be … Continue Reading
April 01, 2021
Biden's Build Back by Borrowing & Taxing Plan
“Repairing roads, bridges, and highways is more the talking point than the actual point of the President’s plan.” - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith $2 trillion on “infrastructure”…not so much: Less than 6 percent ($115 billion) for roads and bridges 43 percent more is spent on mass transit and rail ($165 billion) than for roads and bridges Less than 2 percent ($42 billion) for waterways, locks, dams, ports, and airports Less than 5 percent ($100 … Continue Reading
March 31, 2021
Smith: “Washington Democrats are embracing an historically disturbing appetite for spending.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement on President Biden’s latest massive spending plan: “Washington Democrats are embracing an historically disturbing appetite for spending. They just passed a nearly $2 trillion bailout bill. President Biden is now proposing they turn right back around and cut a check for another $2 trillion to spend on a massive grab bag of policies all tied together with talking points. All the … Continue Reading
March 29, 2021
House Budget Committee Republicans Demand Hearing on President Biden’s Unlawful Freeze on Border Wall Construction
Highlight Previous “Power of the Purse” Oversight by Committee Democrats WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Budget Committee Republicans sent a letter to House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth requesting he immediately hold a hearing on President Biden’s decision to withhold appropriated funds passed by Congress and signed into law for construction of a wall along the southern border of the United States. That decision came in the form of a Proclamation issued by President Biden on … Continue Reading
March 23, 2021
71 Members of Congress Join Call for Investigation of Wall Construction Suspension
WASHINGTON, DC - As the crisis at the border continues to intensify, 71 Republican Members of Congress, led by Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, joined 40 Republican U.S. Senators in calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of the Biden Administration’s suspension of … Continue Reading
March 23, 2021
Smith Opening Statement: House Budget Committee Members’ Day Hearing
As Prepared for Delivery Mr. Chairman - thank you for holding today’s Members’ Day hearing. This Committee and its members have been rather busy these past few weeks. Unfortunately, it is regretful that a lot of that work was done with the aim of pushing a nearly $1.9 trillion bailout bill out the door as quickly as possible - affording as little amount of debate, forethought, or review of existing resources as possible. On that last point, Republican members of this Committee have … Continue Reading
March 19, 2021
Smith Opening Statement on Democrats’ Medicare Cuts + Protect Seniors and Cut Waste Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) delivered remarks this morning during debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding how to address the cuts to Medicare that were triggered by enactment of the Democrats $1.9 trillion bailout bill. Under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010, legislation enacted into law that increases mandatory spending can trigger automatic cuts to Medicare and other programs to offset the new … Continue Reading
March 17, 2021
President Biden’s Lack of Budget: A Historic Lack of Transparency
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement today after President Biden failed to submit any budget plan or outline to Congress as of March 16 - the latest a President has ever submitted an initial budget outline to Congress in the modern budget era. Since enactment of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, every prior President has submitted at least an outline of their budget plan by March 16 of their … Continue Reading
March 10, 2021
Smith: “Democrats just passed the wrong plan, at the wrong time, for all the wrong reasons”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the Senate Amendment to the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion bailout. “These past few weeks Democrats have insisted on using a partisan process to pursue a political agenda when the focus should have been on America’s working class and combating COVID-19. Their plan prioritizes blue state bailouts and policies that will harm job creation and … Continue Reading
March 10, 2021
Smith Opening Statement: House Floor Debate on Senate Amendment to $1.9 Trillion Bailout
As Prepared for Delivery Mr. Speaker - “Rewards for the Political Class, Not the Working Class” - that should be the name of this bailout plan. When our Democrat colleagues got together to decide how to proceed on additional COVID-19 spending, they could have done a number of things. They could have followed the bipartisan precedent set over the past year and worked across the aisle. Instead, they chose a purely partisan process to jam through a radical agenda - putting the … Continue Reading
March 09, 2021
Smith Opening Statement: Rules Committee Meeting on Senate Amendment to $1.9 Trillion Bailout
As Prepared for Delivery Mr. Chairman - thank you for this opportunity. Let’s be clear - the bailout we are discussing has little to do with COVID-19. So much of what is in this bailout is for the political class, not the working class. Bailouts to states with no requirement they end lockdowns. Billions to schools with no requirement they open for our kids. Obamacare expansions. A Universal Basic Income. Checks for prisoners and illegal immigrants. This bailout is a socialist … Continue Reading
March 04, 2021
House Budget Committee Republicans Call on President Biden to be Forthcoming on Budget Release Timeline
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Budget Committee Republicans sent a letter to President Biden highlighting concerns with his Administration’s failure thus far to provide its budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The letter further requests that the President share with Congress when his Administration plans to submit its FY22 budget. “Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a nearly $2 trillion bailout bill disguised as emergency COVID-19 response funding,” wrote House … Continue Reading
March 02, 2021
Smith Statement on Withdrawal of Tanden Nomination for OMB Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the White House announced the withdrawal of Neera Tanden as President Biden’s nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On February 9, Smith sent a letter to the U.S. Senate, signed by Republicans on the House Budget Committee, citing concerns with Tanden’s nomination. “In this case, the Biden Administration has acted sensibly if not slowly in … Continue Reading
February 27, 2021
Smith: “House Democrats have put their partisan ambitions ahead of America’s working class.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion bailout. “The House Democrats’ $1.9 trillion bailout will destroy jobs and force families and seniors to pay more for the food on their table, the clothes on their back, and the heat in their homes. The Democrat plan rewards their friends and political allies and sends billions to states that have boarded up … Continue Reading
February 26, 2021
Smith Opening Statement: House Floor Debate on Democrats $1.9 Trillion Bailout
As Prepared for Delivery We are here today because Washington Democrats have gotten together and decided to use a global pandemic as an excuse to check a few items off from their progressive wish list. They want to reward their political allies at the expense of America’s working class. If this bailout is about crushing the virus, why does less than 9 percent actually go towards putting shots in people’s arms? If this bailout is about quickly reopening our schools, why is less than 5 … Continue Reading
February 24, 2021
Smith, Comer Op-Ed: Dems' $1.9T COVID relief bill – wrong plan, wrong time, wrong reasons. Here's why.
By Rep. Jason Smith, Rep. James Comer FoxNews.com Democrats in Washington are charging full speed ahead on a hastily crafted, nearly $2 trillion spending package. The goal is to satisfy a political agenda and bail out political allies. The guise is COVID-19 relief. Regardless, their plan means tremendous harm to America’s working-class. It is the wrong plan, at the wrong time, for all the wrong reasons. On Monday, the Democrat majority on the House Budget Committee continued what … Continue Reading
February 22, 2021
House Budget Democrats Ignore Concerns of Working Class Americans, Push Forward on Biden Bailout Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Democrat majority on the House Budget Committee defended the Biden Bailout Bill and voted against multiple opportunities offered by House Budget Committee Republicans to support America’s working class. House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement: “At today’s markup, House Budget Committee Republicans offered compassionate, common sense measures to protect the working class, seniors, and those harmed by state and … Continue Reading
February 22, 2021
House Budget Committee to Consider Biden Bailout Bill
House Budget Committee Republicans to Speak Up on Behalf of Working-Class Americans WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House Budget Committee will hold a markup of the nearly $2 trillion Biden Bailout Bill - the Democrat reconciliation package that has been cobbled together under the pretext of COVID-19 relief while clearly being little more than a vehicle for a slew of progressive agenda items. This will be the first opportunity that the House Budget Committee will have had to consider any … Continue Reading
