Missouri Senator Roy Blunt said with the defeat of two balanced budget amendments today, Congress has reached a “generational moment”.
By Joseph Leahy
The defeat of both bills – one from Democrats, one from Republicans – ends the current push to force a yearly balanced budget from Congress. Blunt voted for the Republican-backed bill. He said the fact that neither party could pass their amendment speaks to the heart of the Senate’s dysfunction.
“Unfortunately it was just like everything else that’s been happening on the Senate floor most days now: two votes and nothing happens. I think it’s time we start to work toward real solutions. ”
A debt-ceiling deal last summer required the Senate to stage the votes in exchange for $2 trillion in future spending cuts.