U.S. Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), chairman of the House Budget Committee, has been named one of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s appointees to the new bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform, which is charged with studying ways to reform how Congress debates the nation’s spending decisions.
“In the military, in Arkansas, and in Congress, Steve is a proven leader,” Speaker Ryan said in a statement after making the Feb. 22 appointments. Ryan pointed out that as an appropriator and congressional budget leader, Womack brings “unique insight into all aspects of our federal budgeting process. I am confident that his experience — combined with his passion for budgetary reform — will be an asset in developing the reforms necessary to make Washington work.”
“Making bold and lasting reforms for the benefit for our grandchildren and generations beyond is what I came to Congress to do,” Rep. Womack said on Feb. 23.
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, enacted on Feb. 9, established the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform to provide recommendations and legislative language that significantly reforms the budget and federal funding process, according to the text of the statute. The temporary House-Senate panel by law has until Nov. 30 to hold hearings and vote on a report detailing its recommendations and proposed legislative language. If approved, the recommendations would be submitted for consideration by the House and Senate.
The Speaker of the House and the House Minority Leader each appoint four House members to the joint committee, while the Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader each appoint four senators. The Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader jointly appoint one co-chair, and the House Minority Leader and Senate Minority Leader jointly appoint the second co-chair. The committee is slated to be dissolved no later than Dec. 31.
Joining Rep. Womack on the joint select budget reform committee are U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the House Rules Committee, and U.S. Reps. Rob Woodall (R-GA) and Jodey Arrington (R-TX), House Budget Committee members.
“Our budget process is broken, and this is a chance to make real changes,” Ryan said. “Both parties — and just as importantly, both the House and the Senate — have to come to the table and figure out how to do better for the taxpayer. A working budget process is vital to tackling our pressing fiscal challenges.”
Rep. Womack is also a member of the House Appropriations Committee and serves on the House Republican Whip Team under Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA). The congressman served more than 30 years in the Arkansas Army National Guard until his retirement in 2009 at the rank of colonel, then was elected mayor of Rogers, Ark., in 1998, presiding over the city for 12 years. He was first elected to Congress in 2010.
“Without question, the federal budgeting process is broken,” Womack said. “As conversations begin in the days ahead, I am optimistic about the potential for significant reforms that make our government function better for the American people.”