Ryan: Disappointment with President's "Abdication of Leadership" on Budget

Statement

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan issued the following statement in response to President Obama's decision to delay the release of his Fiscal Year 2013 budget request:

"I am deeply disappointed in this President's abdication of leadership when it comes to prioritizing Americans' hard-earned tax dollars. The decision to delay the release of his budget again could not come at a more precarious moment for our fiscal and economic future. This will mark the third time in four years the President has missed his statutory requirement to present a budget on time, while trillion-dollar budget deficits continue to mount. As the President announces another missed deadline, tomorrow marks the 1,000th day Senate Democrats have gone without any budget at all.

"Having buried Americans under trillions of dollars of debt, the President and his party's leaders remain unwilling to account for their spending spree. The lack of credible budget plans from the President and his party's leaders raises the question: What are they hiding? Given their refusal to advance serious spending restraints and reforms, the President seems unwilling to specify the extent of the job-destroying tax increases and disruptive health-care rationing required to make a dent in his borrowing binge. The merciless math of Washington's current fiscal trajectory requires tough decisions and principled leadership, which leaders are supposed to offer in the form of budgets. Rather than tackle these challenges head-on, this President continues to punt, while his party's leaders in the Senate have simply abandoned responsible budgeting altogether.

"While the President's failures delay the Fiscal Year 2013 budget process, House Republicans remain committed to advancing solutions that get American back on track. We deserve better than a President unwilling to meet his legal and moral obligation to tackle our nation's most pressing challenges. We deserve better than the President's path to debt, doubt and decline."

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Background:

The 1974 Budget Act requires the President to submit a budget request to Congress the first Monday in February every year. In 2009 and 2011, the President failed to meet this deadline. Earlier today, the Office of Management and Budget announced it will again fail to meet its deadline.

The 1974 Budget Act also requires Congress to pass a budget resolution by April 15 every year. While the House met its obligation by April 15, 2011, Senate Democrats failed to pass ­- or even propose -- a budget last year. As of today, the Senate has not passed a budget in 999 days.

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