Op-eds from outside contributors to The Dallas Morning News Opinion section.
The Capitol is seen late Tuesday night, Sept. 26, 2023, in Washington, as lawmakers work to advance appropriations bills on the House floor. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate narrowly averted a federal shutdown, for now.
Serving in Congress comes with a set of clear responsibilities outlined in the Constitution. A crucial duty among these is passing annual spending bills to keep the government running. Unfortunately, this essential functionSince the 1974 Congressional Budget Act, intended to simplify the budget process, the U.S. Congress has managed to pass all 12 mandatory spending bills on time only four times — and hasn’t done so at all since 1996.
Despite dodging this bullet, Congress must address its systemic issues. We’ve been firsthand witnesses to the chronic cycles of partisan dysfunction that make these near-misses a recurring problem. As we move forward, it’s crucial that Congress internalize these painful lessons, fulfill its constitutional duties, and restore the public’s trust in our democratic institutions.
Charlie Dent is a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania and executive director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program. Kurt Shrader is a former Democratic congressman from Oregon. They are former members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. They wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.
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