Pray for wisdom in all aspects of the budget amendment that is being proposed in the House of Representatives. Pray that our government would be wise fiscally and worthy of public trust.

Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. (1 Cor 4:2)

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“The Republican-led House of Representatives will vote this week on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, an effort to quell anger from conservative activists who say Congress presides over a ballooning debt and out-of-control spending.

Lawmakers return to Washington after a two-week recess, during which many fielded complaints from constituents unhappy with the $1.3 trillion spending bill Congress passed last month. President Trump grudgingly signed the measure but vowed never to support such a massive spending bill again….

House members are all up for re-election in November. Some Republicans said the best way to win is to hold votes on GOP campaign promises, even if those measures have little chance of becoming law.

“I look at this as much more than a showboat, but actually putting some teeth in it and putting some people on record,” said Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., chair of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus of more than 150 House members.

Walker helped GOP leaders win enough votes for a budget bill last fall, in exchange for a promise that the House would vote to balance the budget. He said this week’s vote on a balanced budget amendment has been in the works for a while and is not a direct result of the voter pushback over the spending bill — though he acknowledged the base outrage adds to the amendment’s urgency.

The measure the House will consider this week, introduced by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, would amend the Constitution to say Congress can’t spend more than it takes in in federal revenue, unless three-fifths of both the House and Senate vote to do so….

That’s where the problem lies for many fiscal hard-liners, such as Andrew Roth, vice president of government affairs for the Club for Growth. Roth said a balanced budget “has to be solved through spending cuts.”

“It looks like a way for Republicans and Democrats to tax their way out of all of this spending that they’re doing, rather than having hardwired spending caps,” Roth said of the budget proposal. Roth said Republicans often talk a good game when they run for office or serve in the minority, but when it’s time to govern, they have trouble delivering what they promised….

What’s in — and what’s out — of the $1.3 trillion spending bill

There are conversations between House Republican leaders and the White House about ways to rescind sections of the spending bill Trump signed into law, a leadership aide confirmed to USA TODAY.

Michael Steel, a Republican strategist, said a vote on a so-called rescission package would be “very smart politically, to remind people that the Republican Party is dedicated to fiscal conservatism.”

Steel, an aide to John Boehner when he was House speaker, said passing the spending bill was necessary to give the military a spending boost, but coming back and cutting out certain provisions is a good way to show Republicans are committed to cut “wasteful Washington spending.”

Other Republicans worry about the effects of making cuts to a law they worked to pass weeks ago.

“Why enter into a budget agreement and then an omnibus appropriations bill if you intend to undo it in a few weeks?” said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., a moderate member of the Appropriations Committee who helped write the spending bill. “I’m very concerned that rescinding the dollars that were just agreed to will make it extremely difficult to enter into future agreements on appropriations.”… (Excerpts from Eliza Collins’ article in USA TODAY)