Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., blasted Congress' chronic budget dysfunction Thursday, calling the appropriations process "broken" and urging lawmakers to end government shutdowns once and for all.
Since he joined the Senate in 2011, lawmakers should have passed 180 appropriations bills on time.
"You know how many we've actually passed on time? Six," Johnson told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "That's a 3.3% success rate — or a 96.7% failure rate."
Johnson has proposed the Eliminate Government Shutdowns Act, which would implement automatic 14-day continuing resolutions if spending bills are not enacted, preventing disruptions while giving lawmakers more time to negotiate.
"This would eliminate shutdowns for all time," Johnson told hosts Marc Lotter and Sharla McBride, arguing it would also expose the dysfunction of a system that has not passed a budget on schedule since 1997.
Johnson lamented that every Senate Democrat and 12 Republicans on the Appropriations Committee opposed the bill, but insisted the status quo is unacceptable.
"The fact of the matter is that process is broken," he said. "It's time to acknowledge that fact and put the American people first."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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