U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., has proposed five "solutions" to address what he describes as the "disaster" of the U.S. national debt that now stands at nearly $35 trillion after increasing 59% from approximately $22 trillion when Braun took office in 2019.
None of Braun's proposed solutions either increase federal revenue or decrease government spending in a way that would bring the nation's budget into balance, or generate a sufficient surplus to enable the United States to begin paying off its outstanding debt.
Instead, after repeatedly failing to convince his Senate colleagues to change their tax cutting and free spending ways over the past six years, Braun's final plan to fix the debt — as Braun prepares to give up his Senate seat for a chance at becoming Indiana governor — mostly would require federal agencies to produce more reports about federal spending and the national debt.
Braun's "Fiscal State of Nation Act," for example, would mandate the U.S. comptroller general annually speak to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Budget Committees about the financial position and condition of the federal government.
Likewise, Braun's "Improper Payments Transparency Act" would obligate the president to include in his budget proposal information about payments for programs and activities that should not have been made by federal agencies or were made in incorrect amounts during the previous year.
The president also would have to include in his annual budget a chart showing the national debt relative to the country's gross domestic product if Braun's "Debt-to-GDP Transparency and Stabilization Act" becomes law.
In contrast, Braun's "Strengthening Administrative PAYGO Act" actually would prohibit new discretionary spending by administrative agencies unless the spending was offset by reductions elsewhere.
Though that policy only shifts around federal spending, it doesn't reduce it, so it's unlikely to have much impact on the national debt, and the legislation permits the offset requirement to be waived by the director of the Office of Management and Budget if necessary to provide essential services or to ensure effective program delivery.
Finally, Braun's "No Bias in the Baseline Act" would direct the Congressional Budget Office to begin its budget calculations based only on current discretionary spending levels, instead of assuming Congress will continue popular federal programs that are routinely set to expire and that future federal spending won't need to be adjusted to account for inflation and other factors.
Braun said he's convinced the five policies are key for addressing the "unsustainable national debt."
"We're on the path to financial destruction because the federal government keeps spending money we don’t have. Congress needs firm guardrails because they won't stop spending more than we take in. These budget bills I am introducing today will help restore fiscal sanity," Braun said.
The Braun measures are awaiting action by the Democratic-controlled Senate, as are similar proposals filed in the Republican-controlled House.
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