DOG BITES MAN: Democrats reject idea of constitutional amendment mandating balanced budgets.

In light of the nation’s $38 trillion national debt, U.S. House lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss ways to structure a constitutional amendment mandating that Congress pass deficit-neutral budgets.

The House Judiciary subcommittee, however, produced no concrete plan and lawmakers mainly engaged in partisan blame games, even as multiple witnesses there to testify outlined possible solutions.

The U.S. has spent more money than it takes in for decades, resulting in skyrocketing deficits each year. In fiscal year 2025, the federal deficit – the gap between spending and revenue – amounted to roughly $1.8 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.

“The debt ceiling is a joke…a political football,” David Walker, chair of the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation, told lawmakers. “The only thing that can bind current and future congresses and presidents is a constitutional amendment.”

Republicans, who mostly support such an amendment, say the debt and deficit problem is caused by excessive spending, and that the solution is enforced spending restraint.

Exactly.