Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader McCarthy:
In 2011, our new Republican majority confronted President Obama and then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the issue of spending. We made it clear that Republicans would not let them ignore the looming debt ceiling and that Washington's out-of-control spending had to be addressed. Despite the president's efforts through his "sequestration" plan to force Republicans into approving a tax increase on the American people, he lost. While imperfect, the caps put in place by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) have had a substantial impact on efforts to fix the federal government's spending problem.
While the BCA caps do not address the main driver of our debt -- mandatory spending -- it represents one of the few major steps we have taken in deficit reduction. It should come as no surprise then that President Obama and Senator Reid are determined to break the spending caps established by the BCA, even though the defense and non-defense caps actually increase in each of the next six fiscal years, and Democrats voted overwhelmingly for the law in the first place. In fact, only four current Democrat Senators voted against the establishment of the caps in 2011.
Unfortunately, some Republicans have also been quoted in the press claiming that striking a deal to lift the spending caps is not only possible, but also preferable, presumably to ensure that lawmakers would not have to make the cuts necessary in other areas of government.
The Republican FY 2016 budget, A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America maintained the spending caps and prioritized funding for national defense. Any attempts to go back on our promise to the American people just a few short months afterwards -- on the first House- and Senate-conferenced budget in years -- is serious cause for concern. For us to believe that the Republican budget was adopted in good faith, we must not increase the BCA caps.
If we do bust through the caps, we would have to acknowledge a new reality in which House Republicans cannot be trusted to keep the promises we make to our constituents, which would therefore give us pause before supporting future budget resolutions. To do otherwise would be to continue a charade to which the American people do not deserve to be subjected. We look forward to working with you to preserve this historic accomplishment.