Sen. Mike Lee announces the launch of the Article I Project, which aims to help Congress reclaim the powers it has ceded to the Executive Branch by failing to control federal spending.
Reports The Federalist (see also related Federalist story):
Lee and a handful of other lawmakers announced Wednesday their launch of the Article I Project (AIP), a network of conservative legislators who will work together to rein in out-of-control spending and a runaway executive branch.
In his announcement, Lee blamed past congressional irresponsibility for creating a system that benefits the elites. He said giving lawmakers a forum to discuss legislative reform would help to dismantle this system and give Congress the ability to take back the power of the purse, which Article I of the Constitution grants only Congress.
In practice, AIP will serve as an “in-house think tank” for lawmakers to discuss legislation and take back some of the regulatory and budgeting policies executive agencies are controlling.
Some of the proposed reforms, which they intend to discuss further within AIP, include reforming entitlement payouts like Social Security and Medicare and stopping government agencies from being self-funding. In practice, this would require Congress to approve each agency’s budget annually, by redirecting their funding through the Treasury.
