House GOP Considers Skipping Budget

House Republicans “are quietly discussing the option of not writing a budget in 2014, a maneuver that would free up time on the legislative calendar and protect GOP lawmakers from a potentially damaging vote in an election year,” National Journal reports.

“The idea of Republicans skipping this year’s budgetary process seems odd when considering the House GOP made history last year by attaching a policy rider called ‘No Budget, No Pay’ to a debt-limit extension. That measure tied lawmakers’ salaries to budgets being written in both chambers and paved the way for a budget agreement between House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray.”

“But unbeknownst to some lawmakers at the time–and still some today–is that ‘No Budget, No Pay’ was a one-year provision. It is now expired.”