Smucker urges Congress to create bipartisan commission to tackle national debt

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker on Wednesday testified before a House committee in support of forming a bipartisan commission to recommend policies that would help remedy the national debt, which reached $33.8 trillion this week.

“I believe our debt and our fiscal trajectory pose an existential threat to America’s future,” Smucker said at a Wednesday meeting of the House Budget Committee. “And I think establishing a commission is our best chance of addressing it.”

The committee, on which Smucker serves, met in Washington to hear testimony from lawmakers who favor creating a bipartisan debt commission.

Smucker, who has cosponsored a bill to create a Fiscal Commission that would draft a ten-year plan to balance the federal budget, recounted his experience on the Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding Commission during his time as a Lancaster County state senator. Recognizing the school funding formula continues to be debated in Harrisburg, Smucker said he still believes the commission he sat on was successful in reaching a compromise at the time.

Talking with a reporter after he testified, Smucker said the committee members will likely amend one of the three bills discussed at the hearing and incorporate the best aspects of each proposal. He said the differences between the varying bills aren’t substantive, differing on issues like who would sit on the commission and the timeline for recommendations to be published.

Smucker said he hopes the commission would focus on gaining public support for rectifying the national debt and be made up of lawmakers who have “skin in the game,” such as the senior members of committees that deal with spending and taxes. Although the bill he cosponsored would add outside experts to the commission, Smucker said he hopes the final draft only includes lawmakers. 

Arguing for and against

Supporters of the Fiscal Commission proposal, such as the bill’s prime sponsor, Republican Bill Huizenga of Michigan and Democrats Scott Peters of California and Ed Case of Hawaii, said both parties are to blame for the growing national debt and a bipartisan commission should be the first step to successfully address it.

“If the status quo holds and Congress does nothing, simply put, it will result in a cut,” Huizenga said. “(The) best path forward, in fact the only path forward in my opinion, is a bipartisan, bicameral solution, such as the Fiscal Commission Act.”

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which advocates for balancing the federal budget, said a bipartisan commission would give lawmakers a chance to educate the public on the nation’s fiscal situation. The foundation also pointed to a Pew Research poll from January that found more than half of Americans support a bipartisan commission.

Those who opposed creating such a panel, including Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, said Congress already has the power to address the budget issue independently.

“We shouldn’t pass the buck to a Fiscal Commission to do the work that we ourselves don’t want to do,” McGovern said at Wednesday’s hearing. “If we don’t want to do it, maybe we should leave. There isn’t some secret formula. We either cut spending, tax the rich or a combination of both.”

In October, the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities published a report saying a bipartisan commission would likely focus on cutting spending while ignoring the need to invest in other important priorities, like addressing climate change or reversing tax policies that favor the rich over middle class taxpayers.

The budget committee also heard testimony Wednesday from two U.S. senators — Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Mitt Romney of Utah — who are pushing their own bill to create a bipartisan commission.

“If we don’t fix this mess that our country is in, why, it’s hard for me to imagine a circumstance where America is able to continue to lead the world,” Romney said.

In October, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would establish a bipartisan debt commission but did not specify how or when. Congress and the White House are facing a January deadline to pass a long-term spending plan for the government, and a commission could be included in any overall deal cut between the parties.

“We can change the trajectory. We can ensure the promise of America for future generations,” Smucker said in closing his testimony on Wednesday. “In my view, we have no other choice.”