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Earlier today, I introduced new legislation in the House called the "AFTER Appropriations Act." This is a powerful yet easy-to-understand bill that aims to help curb wasteful spending.

Up in Washington, a request to eliminate spending on items that have previously been approved by Congress is known as a "rescission request." While Congress is the branch of government that authorizes spending, the President has the ability to send a rescission request back to Congress, asking us to eliminate spending he deems to be wasteful or unnecessary. This is an important tool because it can sometimes be easier for Executive Branch to identify waste than those of us in the Legislative Branch.

The problem is that under current law, Congress is under no obligation to even consider a Presidential rescission request. Congressional leadership can just ignore it, and eventually the Executive Branch would be required to spend that money as previously authorized.

My bill, the AFTER Appropriations Act, would require that the House or Senate introduce a bill with President's rescissions, and would also require a fast-tracked, up-or-down vote on those rescissions with no amendments, filibusters, or motions to reconsider. This is not to say that Congress must accept the President's recommendations. However, it does say those recommendations must at least be formally considered.

Our federal government has an enormous spending problem.  Ultimately, it's up to Congress to decide how your tax dollars should be spent. So when the President makes rescission requests to cut needless and wasteful spending, this bill will ensure Congress does its part and carefully considers those recommendations.

Many thanks to those co-sponsoring this bill, including Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH).