Moran wants Congress to regain power of purse

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., has a radical notion: Congress needs to pass all of its appropriation bills. That used to be a given. But in recent years the various appropriations bills required to fund the government rarely have cleared both houses of Congress, forcing a last-minute omnibus spending bill. “A primary function of Congress is to establish spending priorities,” Moran said in a speech this month to the Ripon Society, a GOP public-policy organization. “But the other part of this is it is the arena that gives us the opportunity to rein in the agencies and departments. We have given up the power of the purse strings in Congress.” – Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 7:05 PM.