Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington delivered a “Fiscal State of the Nation” speech on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, issuing a rebuttal to President Biden’s proposed FY25 budget, which was released yesterday, while highlighting the deterioration of America’s fiscal health and the House Republicans’ plan to fix it.

Click HERE to watch Chairman Arrington’s remarks.

Chairman Arrington’s remarks as delivered:

“Last week, the President stood in this chamber and declared that the State of the Union is good and that our lives are better. For the sake of our country, I wish that were so, but, unfortunately, we know it couldn't be further from the truth. 

“After three years of one self-inflicted disaster after another - border, crime spree, cost of living crisis, a more destabilized and dangerous world because of the weakness, the weak posture, the feckless foreign policies - we're supposed to believe somehow that life is better in America.

“President Biden wasn't able to suspend reality, even in a State of the Union speech.

“Why? Because the American people know better. They know that under the reckless spending and failed policies of this president, their country has become weaker and more vulnerable, both at home and abroad. 

“And, if you think that the State of the Union speech was disconnected from reality and the needs of the American people, read his budget. He just introduced it yesterday - in the midst of record spending-induced inflation, interest rates, and the cost of living that's crushing working families, a fragile and uncertain economic future for the American people and the slide towards socialism, the slide towards a sovereign debt crisis.

“Here's his answer: double down on the borrowing and the spending and the taxing. In fact, his budget proposes the highest sustained levels of spending, borrowing, and taxing in the history of the United States of America.

“Adding $16 trillion to the debt over 10 years, $5 trillion from hard-working, tax-paying Americans to attempt to pay for it, taxes on energy and ag producers, taxes on working families, taxes on our job creators who are competing not just here at home but in the international marketplace.  

“And then he expands mandatory spending. You have to understand that we have 75% of our budget on auto spend. That's the driver of the debt.

 “If we don't rein in mandatory spending and grow this economy, we'll never get out of this dangerous and unsustainable fiscal path that will end with irreparable harm to this country, that will end with our children being robbed of their freedom and their opportunities and will upend the republic and our leadership in the world. 

“The whole world order will change, and China won't have to fire a single shot, ladies and gentlemen, but he expands mandatory spending because he wants more climate subsidies and green energy tax giveaways to corporations.

“It's more cradle-to-grave welfare without work, trapping more people in dependence on government and generations in poverty. 

“This is his vision for America, but one thing that's not in there is any consideration for this current fragile economy or our children's future. 

“I'm concerned as the Budget Chairman of the United States House Budget Committee. I'm concerned as a man with three children who are hoping to have the American experience that we've had. 

“Listen, the Republicans put forward their budget, their blueprint that would put this nation on a path to balance. Instead of adding the $16 trillion in debt over 10 years, we take that debt away. We reduce trillions of dollars in debt. We reduce our debt to GDP, which, by the way, is the highest indebtedness in the history of our country surpassing World War II when we were fighting Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.

“We're in relative peace and prosperity, and we have higher indebtedness than we did in World War II, and it's going to get exponentially worse. Today, our debt is 25% higher than the total economic output of the greatest and biggest and most robust economy in the world. It'll be twice that in 30 years - $120 trillion on top of the $34 trillion debt that we're in now. 

“Now, if you can look at those CBO projections, if you can look at the unfunded liabilities 30 years in the future, and not shudder to your core for the future of your country, then you're not reading from the same documents I'm reading from.

“I'll say this, look at the contrast between Biden's budget and the Republican budget. 

“He says, ‘show me your budget, I’ll show you your priorities.’ 

“Look at his priorities and look at ours. I think you'll understand that we choose economic freedom and fiscal responsibility and a bright future for our children.

“God bless America, and go West Texas.” 

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