Former Senate Budget Chief Economist Says Two-Year Appropriations Process Could End Cycle of Spending Crises

Interest on Capitol Hill is reviving in a proposal to shift Congress to a two-year budget cycle to minimize the possibility of costly government shutdowns.

Then-Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) speaks on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on March 27, 2019. J. Scott Applewhite, File/AP Photo

With Congress approaching a government shutdown if it fails to adopt a new federal budget by the end of the current fiscal year on Saturday at midnight, frustration with the legislative branch’s growing inability to set spending levels in an orderly manner is growing intense.

But Bill Beach thinks he knows a way past the seemingly endless cycle of missed budget deadlines that for the past decade has lead to a progression of temporary fixes known as continuing resolutions (CRs), which in turn result in Congress voting on one massive omnibus spending bill instead of the 13 individual appropriation measures required by a 1974 law.