Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Reconciliation Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House Budget Committee Chair Jody Arrington backs using reconciliation to fund DHS, cites fraud offsets
Summary
House Budget Committee Chair Jody Arrington told a talk-show host he supports a GOP plan to use budget reconciliation to move Department of Homeland Security funding into mandatory spending and to rely on alleged federal fraud savings as offsets; no formal bill or vote was discussed in the segment.
House Budget Committee Chair Jody Arrington said he supports using the budget reconciliation process to secure funding for the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and to treat that funding as mandatory rather than discretionary so it can pass by a simple majority.
On the program’s political rationale, the host — identified in the segment as Larry — urged Republicans to "use the all Republican exercise of reconciliation," arguing that moving DHS from discretionary to mandatory spending would create offsets and let the majority act without Democratic support. "Let's use the all Republican exercise of reconciliation, which would just require a simple majority," Larry said.
Larry also cited government accountability office figures and alleged program waste as sources of offsets, saying, "The GAO has said for years there's 500 to 550 billion dollars of waste fraud and you can jam all those as offsets." Arrington echoed the emphasis on fraud and budget savings, telling the host, "Reconciliation is the only way to go."
Arrington framed the fiscal push as a response to what he described as the Biden administration's spending and its effects on housing and affordability. "I think this is the way Republicans ought to move forward to address the housing and other affordability issues," Arrington said, adding that recent actions on Medicaid and SNAP were steps in that direction.
The pair also discussed defense funding. The host referenced a reported Pentagon request for roughly $200 billion amid ongoing conflicts, and both speakers said a strong military remains a priority even as they debated how to pay for it.
The segment included policy suggestions beyond reconciliation. The host proposed inflation-adjusting capital gains tax to avoid taxing nominal gains caused by inflation, arguing it could help the housing market.
No specific legislation, motion, or vote was introduced during the broadcast. The exchange was a policy discussion on a radio program; Arrington thanked the host for his support and the show cut to a break.
