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June 16, 2022

Today Fix the Debt, a project of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, is pleased to announce and honor a new class of Fiscal Heroes for 2022. Representing a bipartisan group of 19 Senators and 31 House Members, recipients are Members of Congress who have distinguished themselves by showing leadership on issues of fiscal responsibility. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of Fix the Debt: 

“With inflation at a 40-year high, the national debt reaching near-record levels, and our major trust funds facing looming insolvency over the next decade, our country faces daunting fiscal challenges. Addressing our fiscal challenges requires policymakers in Washington who distinguish themselves by their leadership and political courage, and our Fiscal Heroes are doing just that. We applaud our Fiscal Heroes for their commitment to getting our nation on a more sustainable fiscal path.”

Fiscal Heroes are awarded each Congress to recognize policymakers working to improve the nation's fiscal situation and fix the budget process. Fiscal Heroes have distinguished themselves by pushing their party leaders to make debt a priority, leading bipartisan efforts to work through policy options to fix the debt and the budget process, taking responsible votes, participating in fiscally focused events, using their town hall meetings to engage and educate constituents, delivering floor speeches to raise awareness about the issue, advocating to keep tough choices on the table, and introducing legislation to improve the budget process and the nation's fiscal position.

The list of honorees is as follows: 

Sen. Mike Braun, R-IN 

Sen. Thomas Carper, D-DE 

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX 

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND 

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-IA 

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH 

Sen. Angus King, I-ME 

Sen. James Lankford, R-OK 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT 

Sen. Cynthia Marie Lummis, R-WY 

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY 

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-UT 

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-SD 

Sen. Rick Scott, R-FL 

Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA 

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI 

Sen. Todd Young, R-IN 

Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-TX 

Rep. Jim Banks, R-IN 

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-AZ 

Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-GA 

Rep. Ted Budd, R-NC 

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-TN 

Rep. Ed Case, D-HI 

Rep. Ben Cline, R-VA 

Rep. Michael Cloud, R-TX 

Rep. Jim Cooper, D-TN 

Rep. Ron Estes, R-KS 

Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-IA 

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-NC 

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-WI 

Rep. Jared Golden, D-ME 

Rep. Bob Good, R-VA 

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-OK 

Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-MI 

Rep. Bill Johnson, R-OH 

Rep. Ron Kind, D-WI 

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-CA 

Rep. Blake Moore, R-UT 

Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-FL 

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-SC 

Rep. Scott Peters, D-CA 

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-MN 

Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-OR 

Rep. Jason Smith, R-MO 

Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-PA 

Rep. Chris Stewart, R-UT 

Rep. Steve Womack, R-AR

For more information, please contact Kim McIntyre, Director of Media Relations, at mcintyre@crfb.org.

August 17, 2020

The Campaign to Fix the Debt is pleased to announce and honor a new class of Fiscal Heroes for 2020, listed below. This bipartisan group of 14 Senators and 28 House members has distinguished themselves by showing leadership on issues of fiscal responsibility. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt:

The current public health and economic crisis is a painful reminder of why it is important to control the national debt during good times so that we have the capacity to borrow as needed during tough times without leaving the nation in a precarious fiscal position. Our Fiscal Heroes showed tremendous leadership prior to the pandemic, at a time when too many politicians were ignoring the issue.

These members are being recognized for going the extra mile to develop and endorse solutions to the nation’s budget crisis. They have distinguished themselves by casting fiscally responsible votes, drafting and pursuing legislative solutions, pushing their party leaders to make addressing the debt a priority, and engaging and educating their constituents.

Their work now is more critical than ever, as pandemic relief has the national debt set to exceed the size of the economy by the end of this year and reach an all-time high in 2021. While today’s focus is rightly on the current emergency, our debt remains on an unsustainable trajectory and must ultimately be brought under control.

We want to commend these members who take the debt seriously. This issue requires their bipartisan leadership and a willingness to take hard votes and pursue innovative solutions. They deserve our thanks and praise.

The list of honorees is as follows:

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.

Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.

Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

Rep. Justin Amash, L-Mich.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind.

Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo.

Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii

Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas

Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.

Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.

Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisc.

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn.

Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill.

Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas

Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah

Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif.

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn.

Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas

Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.

Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C.

October 16, 2019

With 374 questions asked during four presidential debates, there has still not been a single one posed about the national debt or the looming insolvency of our entitlement programs.

The following is a statement from the nonpartisan Campaign to Fix the Debt Co-Chairs Judd Gregg and Edward Rendell:

The next president will inherit a daunting national debt, yet during 15 hours of debate, there has been no acknowledgment of reality or question about the projected worst fiscal situation in our history.  

Debt is the largest share of the economy in history other than just after World War II, and we’re adding more than a trillion dollars every year forever. 

Some of our largest trust funds are also running out of reserves – Social Security will be insolvent when today’s youngest retirees are still in their 70s.

With many candidates proposing big ideas but too few talking about how to pay for them and none talking about how to fix the underlying fiscal situation, this is the one issue that could act as a wet blanket over their entire agenda. 

None of this is sustainable, and we need a plan for the debt from all presidential candidates.

We owe the next generation a question about the debt.

For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

August 5, 2019

Last week, President Trump signed a deficit-financed budget agreement that will increase spending by $320 billion for two years and add roughly $1.7 trillion to projected debt levels over the next decade. While the agreement was supported by the majority of both chambers, 28 senators and 149 representatives voted against the bill. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt.

The fact that policymakers, Congress and the President, just added $1.7 trillion to the debt with almost no offsets shows just how broken the political system is. Including the recent tax cuts and other bills, lawmakers have added more than $4 trillion to projected debt since the beginning of 2017.

A number of Members in both parties and chambers stood strongly on principle in opposing this reckless deal. This is exactly the type of vote we look at when identifying fiscal heroes. These members deserve our gratitude.

Members who voted against the budget deal and also opposed the 2017 tax cuts:

Senators: Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT)

Representatives: Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Ron Kind (D-WI), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Scott Peters (D-CA), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Lee Zeldin (R-NY)

Other senators who voted against the budget deal:

Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), *Mike Braun (R-IN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Cory Gardner (R-CO), *Josh Hawley (R-MO), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), James Risch (R-ID), *Mitt Romney (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Sasse (R-NE), *Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pat Toomey (R-PA) 

Other representatives who voted against the budget deal:

Ralph Abraham (R-LA), Rick Allen (R-GA), Justin Amash (I-MI), Mark Amodei (R-NV), *Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Jodey Arrington (R-TX), *James Baird (R-IN), *Troy Balderson (R-OH), Jim Banks (R-IN), Andy Barr (R-KY), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), *Anthony Brindisi (D-NY), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Ken Buck (R-CO), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), *Tim Burchett (R-TN), Michael Burgess (R-TX), Bradley Byrne (R-AL), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Steve Chabot (R-OH), *Ben Cline (R-VA), *Michael Cloud (R-TX), James Comer (R-KY), Rick Crawford (R-AR), *Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), *Joe Cunningham (D-SC), John Curtis (R-UT), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Sean Duffy (R-WI), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Ron Estes (R-KS), Bill Flores (R-TX), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), *Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Greg Gianforte (R-MT), Bob Gibbs (R-OH), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), *Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), *Lance Gooden (R-TX), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Garret Graves (R-LA), Sam Graves (R-MO), Tom Graves (R-GA), *Mark Green (R-TN), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), *Michael Guest (R-MS), *Jim Hagedorn (R-MN), *Josh Harder (D-CA), Andy Harris (R-MD), *Kevin Hern (R-OK), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Jody Hice (R-GA), Clay Higgins (R-LA), George Holding (R-NC), Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), *Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Mike Johnson (R-LA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), *John Joyce (R-PA), *Fred Keller (R-PA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Steve King (R-IA), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Bob Latta (R-OH), *Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Billy Long (R-MO), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Kenny Marchant (R-TX), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Brian Mast (R-FL), Mark Meadows (R-NC), Paul Mitchell (R-MI), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), *Ben McAdams (D-UT), Tom McClintock (R-CA), David McKinley (R-WV), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Pete Olson (R-TX), *Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Gary Palmer (R-AL), Scott Perry (R-PA), Bill Posey (R-FL), *Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), John Ratcliffe (R-TX), Tom Reed (R-NY), Tom Rice (R-SC), *Denver Riggleman (R-VA), Phil Roe (R-TN), Francis Rooney (R-FL), *John Rose (R-TN), David Rouzer (R-NC), *Chip Roy (R-TX), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Austin Scott (R-GA), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), John Shimkus (R-IL), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Jason Smith (R-MO), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), *Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), *Ross Spano (R-FL), *Bryan Steil (R-WI), *Gregory Steube (R-FL), Steve Stivers (R-OH), *Van Taylor (R-TX), *William Timmons (R-SC), Scott Tipton (R-CO), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Mark Walker (R-NC), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), *Michael Waltz (R-FL), *Steve Watkins (R-KS), Randy Weber (R-TX), Dan Webster (R-FL), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Roger Williams (R-TX), Rob Wittman (R-VA), *Ron Wright (R-TX), Ted Yoho (R-FL)

* Did not vote/was not in office for the vote on the 2017 tax cuts.

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For more information, contact Ben Tomchik at tomchik@crfb.org.

July 30, 2019

The following is a statement from Campaign to Fix the Debt Co-Chairs Judd Gregg and Edward Rendell calling on Democratic candidates for president to discuss the debt this week during the presidential debates:

In the first presidential debates, there was barely a mention of the word debt. Yet the rapidly rising and historic national debt sits over our nation like a wet blanket – smothering every proposal and promise of a better future. We need a robust debate on how to deal with the national debt, not more denial and disregard.

In just a few years, we will spend more on interest payments on the debt than on Medicaid or the military all while Social Security and Medicare spiral toward insolvency. This isn’t a future anyone wants, and the situation is getting worse by the day.

It is telling that the week of these next debates, the Senate will likely pass a massive spending increase thrown almost entirely on the national credit card. The bill doesn’t even have enough offsets to cover the interest payments on the new debt it creates. If signed into law, $4.1 trillion of additional debt will have been enacted through tax cuts and a 21-percent increase in regular spending since 2017.

The next president will face this problem whether they like it or not; it is time we hear their plan.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

February 12, 2019

The U.S. Treasury confirmed today that the gross U.S. national debt topped $22 trillion for the first time in history yesterday, February 11, 2019. Figures published daily by the government show the gross debt at $22.013 trillion.

The following is a statement from the Campaign to Fix the Debt Co-Chairs Judd Gregg and Edward Rendell:

This milestone is another sad reminder of the inexcusable tab our nation’s leaders continue to run up and will leave for the next generation.

With deficits rising, and gross debt scheduled to increase by more than $1 trillion annually forever into the future, now is the time Congress must take action to put us on a more sustainable path.

The fiscal recklessness over past years has been shocking, with few willing to step up with a real plan. We need responsible leadership to fix the debt, not a worsening of partisanship.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

November 7, 2018

The following is a statement by the Co-Chairs of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, Governor Ed Rendell and Senator Judd Gregg:

With a new Congress comes a new opportunity to solve our nation’s  biggest problems. Our leaders now face a choice – partisanship or  progress.

We are entering this next year with surging and unsustainable levels of  debt ($21.7 trillion and climbing), and the new Congress just elected  will preside over the return of trillion-dollar deficits. 

The outgoing Congress passed legislation adding $2.4 trillion to the  debt over the next decade through unpaid-for tax cuts and spending  increases, and no progress was made on fixing our health and retirement programs. It is a problem the next Congress will not be able to ignore.

Our leaders need to acknowledge the tough choices ahead and level with the American people on our increasingly dangerous and out-of-control fiscal situation and what it will take to fix it.

Although we come from different parties, we are both Americans who want to continue the essential tradition of leaving the country better off  for the next generation. We cannot afford more partisanship and short-sightedness.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

June 26, 2018

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its Long-Term (30-year) Budget Outlook, which warns that our already historically high debt will rise from 77 percent of the economy today to 152 percent by 2048 under current law, and much more if various expiring policies are  continued.

The following is a statement from the Campaign to Fix the Debt Co-Chairs Judd Gregg and Edward Rendell:

Congress continues to focus more on the next election than the next generation. CBO has shown us today the dangers of continuing to ignore the long term.

Debt is on track to exceed the size of the economy by 2031 and reach a new record of 107 percent of the economy by 2034. In three decades, CBO projects debt will double to 152 percent of the economy.

This level of debt would be unprecedented. It would reduce incomes, increase interest rates, raise federal debt service payments, and it would surely be unsustainable.

Meanwhile, Social Security and Medicare are both on course toward insolvency in the next 14 years. It’s all a recipe for fiscal disaster.

There is still time to avoid the crisis scenario CBO projects, but waiting  until the last minute won’t work. Congress should come up with a plan now to put the debt on a downward path and protect current and future generations.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.