Van Hollen urges 'no' vote on balanced-budget amendment

House Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Monday urged House Democrats to vote against a balanced-budget amendment that is coming to the floor this week.

The BBA version to be considered was selected by the House GOP to appeal to Democrats; members of the conservative Blue Dog coalition are expected to support it. Unlike a rival version, H.J.Res 2 does not require a two-thirds votes in each chamber to raise taxes.

To pass the House, Republicans will need at least 48 Democrats to join them to reach the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment to be sent to the states.

The opposition by Van Hollen, a fiscal centrist, can be taken as a sign the legislation will be defeated in the House. Passage in the Senate was already considered unlikely. 

Van Hollen in a letter to colleagues argues that putting a balanced-budget requirement into the Constitution would take fiscal disputes out of Congress and into the courts.

“This Constitutional amendment would have catastrophic consequences on federal priorities, would weaken Congress’s ability to govern, and would open the door to courts intervening in federal budget decisions. I urge you to vote against the Constitutional amendment,” he wrote.

“In the past, budget disputes have shut down the federal government. Since these impasses were ‘legislative’ in nature, Congress could address the problem through a continuing resolution, or with an emergency exception that was construed to permit the continuation of 'emergency government services' until a resolution could be reached. No such exception would be available if the impasse is of a Constitutional nature and a shutdown is mandated by the courts,” he added.