Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Tonight Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) voted to save taxpayer money, implement common sense work requirements, codify a Trump-era executive order to start reining in future executive order spending, compel a functioning appropriations process and reject new taxes from the Biden administration.

"We didn't accumulate $31.4 trillion in debt overnight, and it's going to take time to undo the fiscal mess we're in," said Rep. Estes. "The Fiscal Responsibility Act saves taxpayer dollars, implements work requirements, encourages American energy production, and prevents massive new tax hikes, and while I wish it went further, the bill presents the most aggressive spending cuts that will become law that I’ve ever had an opportunity to vote on. I'll continue fighting for more fiscal reforms to protect taxpayers from Washington's insatiable desire to spend your money."

Rep. Estes has been a fierce advocate for fiscal responsibility, earning a 97% 2022 conservative score from CPAC and a 94.59% 2022 score on the Limited Government Index from the Institute for Legislative Analysis. He has cosponsored a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution multiple times and introduced an amendment to cut 1% of non-defense spending in the last Congress. This bill is not the end of fighting for fiscal sanity in Washington, but a positive change made all the more impressive considering Republicans control only one-half of one-third of our federal government.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act, while not perfect, changes the trajectory of spending in Washington by:

• saving taxpayer dollars through a rollback of non-defense discretionary spending to FY22 levels, imposing new spending limits over the next six years, immediately cutting 11% on woke, weaponized bureaucracy while increasing funds for national defense, veterans, and border security, and clawing back billions of dollars in unspent COVID-19 funds,
• codifying a Trump-era executive order for an administrative pay-go to rein in executive overreach,
• compelling a functioning appropriations process by implementing immediate 1% spending reductions if the House, Senate and White House are unable to approve all 12 appropriations bills,
• increasing common sense work requirements for SNAP and TANF programs,
• preventing the IRS from starting the hiring process of 87,000 new agents this year by reducing IRS funding, while also allowing the House to continue stripping these unnecessary funds in future years,
• streamlining energy projects to encourage American energy production and lower energy costs, and
• denying new economy-crippling tax increases that were part of President Biden's proposed budget.