20 Jul 2026 Letter for the Record: House Appropriations Hearing on Shutdown Reform in Budget and Appropriations
Ahead of the House Appropriations Committee hearing on Funding Lapses: Analyzing Shutdown Reform, BPC Action submitted a letter for the record to Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) to commend the committee for focusing on shutdown reform and to express our strong support for the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act (H.R. 5870/S. 4632).
Shutdowns add chaos and cost without resolving the disagreements that cause them, and they do not bring Congress any closer to fulfilling its obligations. That is why BPC Action’s overriding priority—and, we believe, the goal shared by the committee—is a stronger annual appropriations process that is genuinely bipartisan, deliberative, and completed on time, and through which Congress fully exercises its constitutional power of the purse. The Bipartisan Policy Center and BPC Action strongly support preserving and strengthening the role and influence of the budget process. Congress’s intent is carried out most faithfully when lawmakers work through regular order and set the government’s priorities in clear legislative text, rather than defaulting to short-term stopgaps or ceding ground to the executive branch amid a funding crisis.
The Prevent Government Shutdowns Act offers a practical, bipartisan path forward. By providing an automatic continuing resolution when appropriations lapse, the bill would keep agencies open and operating at existing funding levels. Its procedural incentives would also keep members in Washington and focused on appropriations until their work is done. After the damaging shutdowns of the past year, Washington needs a better way to manage funding deadlines—one that keeps the government open without inflicting harm on our nation.
BPC Action applauds House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), along with Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and their bipartisan cosponsors, for advancing this commonsense reform. BPC and BPC Action have long worked with lawmakers and experts in both parties to build a budget process that is more efficient, timely, and effective. Ending the threat of government shutdowns is essential to that effort, and the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act would help get the appropriations process back on track.
We appreciate the committee’s attention to this issue and welcome the opportunity to serve as a resource as its work continues.
