The Budget Committee of the United States Senate, the very body tasked with fiscal oversight of federal spending, costs American taxpayers over $7.4 million per bill it reports. If that already sounds like government inefficiency, it's merely the tip of an iceberg in the Senate committee system that has grown its budgets by 57.4% since 2017 while producing fewer results.

The mandate from November 2024 was clear: Americans voted for accountability and fiscal discipline in Washington. Yet Senate committee budgets tell a different story of unchecked growth, diminishing returns, and business as usual. Despite campaign promises to transform government efficiency, Senate Republicans appear to be on autopilot, allowing no-strings-attached budget increases to be unanimously approved regardless of productivity. The numbers reveal a system that has grown comfortable with spending more while delivering less.

On 2025-02-27 the Senate unanimously agreed to S.Res.94 which outlines Senate committee budgets for the 119th Congress. This routine process could have been a fantastic opportunity for the legislature to practice what they preach and right-size to a lean operation, setting a tone for change to come. Sadly, we see no such thing. The legislature is enjoying the power of the purse and ignoring the chance to clean up the mess in their own home. This complacency and lackadaisical spending is exactly what Trump was elected to root out, but the 119th Congress must have missed the memo.

Budget Growth Overview

Since the 115th Congress (2017-2019), senate committee budgets have increased over 50%, a rate well above the rate of inflation. The budget for the 119th Congress is a whopping $312 million dollars. Notable are the drastic budget increases of the 117th and 118th Congress. Despite the excessive and unusual jump, no attempt at correcting the over-extension was made. The machine keeps going no matter which party holds the majority. Where does this money go? Staff? Travel? New office equipment? We'd love to know.

Congress	Years	Total Authorization	% Increase
115th	2017-2019	$198,175,601	-
116th	2019-2021	$214,054,860	8%
117th	2021-2023	$238,217,455	11%
118th	2023-2025	$291,401,577	22%
119th	2025-2027	$311,959,646	7%
Total Growth	2017-2025	+$113,784,045	57%

Budget vs. Productivity Disconnect

A review of the budgets and productivity of individual committees shines a light where the Senate may not want us to look. When comparing the 115th and 118th Congresses, The Veterans' Affairs Committee budget increased 75%. This is perplexing, as they handled 18.5% fewer bills and reported nearly 80% fewer bills. Ironically, the budget committee saw a similar but less dramatic change along the same lines - increasing budget and decreasing productivity.

Committee	118th Budget	Budget Increase	Change in Bills Handled	Change in Reported Bills
Veterans' Affairs	$8,334,320	+74.9%	-18.5%	-79.2%
Commerce & Transportation	$20,208,857	+32.1%	-3.2%	-37.5%
Agriculture	$14,441,838	+19.9%	+205.3%	-75.0%
Foreign Relations	$19,814,821	+25.9%	+0.2%	-35.1%
Budget	$14,977,286	+17.7%	-15.6%	-50.0%

I'll concede that there is some nuance that the numbers miss. Certain bills will be more complex than others. Not passing bills could be a better outcome for Americans. However, the calculated cost per reported bill for the Budget committee during the 118th Congress is over $7 million dollars. What did they produce? The REEF act, S. 1274, which protects railroad workers unemployment payments from sequestration-style budget cuts, and S.Res.52, a resolution that confirms their committee budget. For $14.9 Million, the Budget committee read, but did not act on, 25 bills. One of them, S. 5159, would require calculation and display of the pro-rata charge per US citizen on any proposed legislation's impact on federal spending and debt. Telling?

Consultant Spending Allowances

A key element in committee budgets are spending allowances for consultants. This is yet another area with a large increase in spending but a questionable return on value. The value taxpayers receive from these engagements is an open question. There appears to be no consistent correlation between increases in consultant spending and increases in legislative productivity.

Committee	115th Congress	119th Congress	$ Increase	% Increase
Homeland Security	$75,000	$400,000	$325,000	433%
Foreign Relations	$150,000	$250,000	$100,000	67%
Commerce & Transportation	$50,000	$100,000	$50,000	100%
Judiciary	$116,667	$125,000	$8,333	7%

The Swamp

Legislating is a hard and arguably expensive process. However, this resolution passed unanimously. The ~$300M is small potatoes in the federal budget, but it cannot be waved away. Change starts from within, and how can we expect Senators to truly seek efficiency in good faith if they aren't interested in increasing the efficiency of their own operations? This is the complacency and the indifference of the government spending machine.

The Senate committee system presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is battling entrenched spending habits that persist year over year, administration over administration, across both parties. The opportunity is the ability to demonstrate that no corner of government is exempt from the obligation to spend taxpayer dollars efficiently.

True reform would require committees to justify every dollar they need through zero-based budgeting instead of automatic increases. It would demand performance metrics are tied to resources. It would insist on transparency, making it easy to see what exactly $312 million in committee funding actually buys. If lawmakers cannot or will not impose efficiency standards on their own operations, voters have every reason to question their commitment to broader government reform. The mandate for change doesn't stop at the committee room door. In fact, that might be precisely where it needs to begin.

Committee Budgets by Congress