News Home

Contact: 202-225-2071

Praises move to reduce House budgets, including own

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05) today voted to cut congressional budgets by five percent.  The vote reduced the operating budgets of House committees, leadership offices, and individual representative offices for 2011 and 2012 by five percent.  The budget cut passed the House by a large bipartisan margin of 410-13.

“North Carolina families and businesses have cut back over the past few years, while Congress spent their tax dollars with abandon—this cut to the congressional budget demonstrates that the new Congress is serious about stopping the runaway spending,” Foxx said.  “This won’t solve the budget problems overnight, but Congress should lead by example and reduce its own budget first.”

The House budget cuts will total approximately $35.2 million in the first year.  In the past 10 years the total budget for Congress increased by 87 percent.  Today’s spending cut represents the first such cut in recent memory.  House Republicans are also moving towards restoring 2008 spending levels across the federal budget, which could save $100 billion in taxpayer dollars.   

“Today’s spending cut is the first of many that I will push for this year,” Foxx said.  “If Congress plans to reduce government spending we must set the tone by reducing our own budget first.  While spending cuts are never without pain, every day we wait to reduce spending is another day that future generations are saddled with debt.”

In September 2010, Foxx joined House Republicans in pledging that they would change the way Washington works and begin cutting job-killing federal over-spending immediately.  This spending cut on the second day of the 112^th Congress marks the first such cut since Republicans took control of the House.