Op-Ed: Rep. Eric Burlison: Put up or shut up: Why Congress must pass President Trump’s rescissions package
After years of unchecked spending and the relentless expansion of a bloated administrative state that demands ever-increasing amounts of power and resources, the American taxpayer has been relegated to an afterthought in Washington’s priorities.
Washington’s leaders, reluctant to surrender their own interests for those of whom they represent, have driven our national debt to more than $36 trillion. Just since 2020, the federal debt has grown by over $12 trillion—an amount equal to the debt accumulated under two centuries of American presidents.
While politicians shake hands and rack up accolades for being ‘America’s problem solvers,’ hardworking Americans have been left to foot the bills for reckless spending projects that rarely ever benefit their own lives.
It’s time to reverse course.
This week, House Republicans have the opportunity to show the American people that their time spent waiting in line at the polls wasn’t wasted—that when we talk about cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, we actually mean it and that we are, in fact, different from our fiscally abusive Democratic counterparts, just as we claim to be.
It’s time to put up or shut up and pass the White House’s rescissions package.
Though rarely used, the rescissions package is a pathway under the Impoundment Control Act allowing President Trump to deliver on his agenda for the American people, cancelling billions of dollars in unused, unnecessary, and wasteful federal funds previously authorized by Congress under the Biden administration.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), for its part, played a critical role in identifying the wasteful funds now under consideration.
Take, for example, the $1.5 million being rescinded to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces,” the $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam, or the $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia.
We all know the majority of Americans would never open their personal wallets to fund these causes, so why does Congress?
Without being rescinded, these funds will linger on federal balance sheets, unused, waiting to be repurposed, or worse, redirected by unelected bureaucrats to other progressive pet projects.
Reclaiming these dollars is not just good policy, it’s a necessary step in restoring fiscal integrity and a baseline level of trust in the federal government, which has time and time again betrayed the interests of the American people.
Already, opposition to the rescissions package has arisen from within our own party with members threatening to jettison the entirety of the very popular DOGE cuts. Likewise, critics say the rescissions won’t make a dent in the deficit and therefore not worth taking a vote on.
Conveniently, politicians rarely apply the same level of scrutiny to legislation that increases our deficit.
Every responsible step matters, and this one also sets a precedent that waste, fraud, and abuse won’t be tolerated.
It’s not just about the money. It’s about sending a message.
Americans have lost faith in Washington’s ability to manage their tax dollars—and for good reason. In just a few years, trillions of dollars have been added to the national debt; inflation has dissolved family budgets; mortgage rates have soared; and the middle class has taken hit after hit. Yet, Washington continues to spend, undaunted.
Passing this rescissions package is an opportunity to prove that Congress can still act with discipline—that we can still put the American taxpayer ahead of political interests and lobbyists and that we can begin, even modestly, to chip away at the fiscal leviathan that both parties have helped create.
While Democrats and even some Republicans may be tempted to oppose this package, I urge them to think about their constituents. The American people are watching. They’re tired of excuses. They’re tired of politicians who campaign as fiscal hawks and govern according to the status-quo leaders. This package gives us a chance to draw a line in the sand—to finally say enough is enough.
If we say we believe in limited government, if we say we want to cut waste and reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy, then now is the time to prove it.
Join us, the House Freedom Caucus, in strongly supporting these critical rescissions and any rescissions the White House can send us to claw back taxpayer dollars.
No one bill will solve our debt crisis. But this rescissions package is a necessary first step toward restoring sanity to the budget process. It’s responsible. It’s focused. And it puts the American taxpayer first.
I urge my colleagues in Congress to join me in voting to pass this rescissions package. Let’s show the American people that we are serious about ending waste, protecting their hard-earned dollars, and finally starting the process of getting Washington’s fiscal house in order.
Rep. Eric Burlison is a Republican representing Missouri’s 7th Congressional District in Congress.
