Congress Declines to Hear Obama’s Budget Proposal in Person

Carl Hulse, NYT

The president’s budget is traditionally declared dead on arrival on Capitol Hill. This year, President Obama’s final budget proposal is just dead.

In a harsh partisan snub, the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House budget committees — Senator Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming and Representative Tom Price of Georgia — have chosen not to invite Shaun Donovan, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to testify about the administration’s plan, set to be released on Tuesday as part of the traditional budget week festivities.

“Rather than spend time on a proposal that, if anything like this administration’s previous budgets, will double down on the same failed policies that have led to the worst economic recovery in modern times, Congress should continue our work on building a budget that balances and that will foster a healthy economy,” Mr. Price said in a statement.

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, called the decision an insult and said it was representative of the “corrosive radicalism that has gripped congressional Republicans.” White House officials said it raised doubts about the frequent Republican leadership claims to restore “regular order” in Congress.

(More here.)