Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, re-introduced a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that would require Congress to balance the federal budget.
“America’s national debt now sits at over $28 trillion with no end in sight,” Green said in a statement. “This is a crippling burden that our children and grandchildren will shoulder, yet Congressional spending is out of control.”
Conservative lawmakers have been pushing for a balanced budget amendment since the mid-1990s.
While the idea is dead on arrival in a Democratic-controlled Congress, centrist Blue Dog Democrats threw their support behind a modified version of the plan in 2019. That version would allow for deficit spending in recessions and times of emergency, reflecting the views of most economists.
