‘Views and estimates’ markup is political fodder
WASHINGTON — Budget season is coming, and so are “views and estimates” markups. Well, for some committees, that is.
Every year, before the president releases his budget, committees are required by the 1974 law that established the modern budget process to send a letter to the House Budget Committee advising of their policy priorities and how funds for programs and agencies under their jurisdiction should be allocated.
However, whether the panels actually hold a markup session on their views and estimates before they are sent to the Budget panel — which is not a requirement of the budget law — is the billion-dollar question.
About two weeks ago, like others before him, Budget Chairman Jodey C. Arrington, R-texas, sent instructions to all committee chairs asking them to
submit their annual views and estimates.
“We are encouraged that many in Congress are focusing more on our unsustainable fiscal situation and want a plan to improve the Nation’s fiscal outlook, and your Committee’s Views and Estimates will provide the critical input necessary for the
Committee on the Budget to construct a budget that achieves this priority,” the instructions said.
Arrington’s letter also includes a plug to committee leaders to hold open markup sessions for their views and estimates letters before sending them along to the Budget panel.
That’s a new twist that wasn’t included in prior years’ instructions, such as a 2022 letter to then-natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva, D-ariz., from former House Budget Chair John Yarmuth, D-KY., who retired after the 117th Congress.
Arrington set a deadline of March 8 for panels to submit their views and estimates, or the day before President Joe Biden’s expected budget release. That’s an unusually quick timeline, but Biden’s budget is also being released about one month late.
For the Natural Resources Committee, the decision to hold a views and estimates markup has been a regular point of debate.
During the last Congress, like most Republicans, then-natural Resources ranking member Bruce Westerman, R-ark., promised a return to fiscal responsibility and regular order if the GOP won the midterms.
In April 2021, Westerman called for a views and estimates markup in a letter to Grijalva, saying it was an “important and time-sensitive matter.”
matters,” the letter said. “I stand ready to work with you to chart a fiscally responsible course for our nation and the management of our public lands, waters and resources.”
But now, two months into the 118th Congress with the debt ceiling looming and budget matters top of mind, the panel’s majority told Democratic staff that Westerman would not be holding a markup on the views and estimates after all, according to minority staff.
“The issue is not just the actual markup itself,” Grijálva said in a statement. “The issue is whether my Republican counterparts are going to be a majority that governs with consistency and integrity, or one that is marked by chaos and about-faces. I’m afraid this isn’t a good harbinger of things to come.”
Aides to Westerman did not respond to requests for comment.