House Republicans just revealed our plan for a better, fairer government. These changes would affect how government works. They clarify roles between the three government branches, update rules for governing, simplify spending, and puts information about government actions into the light.
Here are four huge ideas from today’s announcement:
1) Hold Washington responsible for its performance
Your representatives will be able to do their job. In our plan, Congress will review government programs before deciding to continue, redesign, or remove them. Government agencies will have to prove their performance before your elected representatives.
Other changes make legislation easier to understand and make government actions easier to follow and correct. Also, courts will be able to resolve problems faster between Congress and the President.
2) Make government more representative
Currently, government agencies make up many rules and laws without permission from the people’s representatives. There are laws that your representatives didn’t vote on, yet you’re expected to obey them.
Our plan returns to constitutional basics: Congress writes the laws.
So, Congress will take part in creating all rules and regulations that you have to follow. The laws and regulations will have to be easy to understand. Any plans for new rules will be shared with you first. As a result, you’ll be able to follow what your government does.
3) Push Congress to spend smarter
The federal government, which spent well over $3.7 trillion last year, will spend smarter with these changes.
Congress will update the appropriations process for success. These changes allow your representatives to discuss who is spending your money, what they’re spending it on, when they’re spending it, how they’re spending, and why they’re spending it. Through the People’s House, you will have more control over how Washington spends your money.
Other changes include preventing your tax dollars from being spent illegally or inappropriately and addressing automatic government spending.
4) Get government to share more information on what’s working and what’s not
The federal government already shares some information on what it’s working on. Our plan gets government to publish more data on the money it spends. It would be made easy to access and search. In other words, you’ll see where your money is being spent.
Also our plan links spending and performance data. This allows your representatives to see what works and what doesn’t work in government. Investigations get easier too, so Congress can make sure that laws are followed.
What’s next
We will keep sharing our vision for 2017. The next announcements will cover health care reform and tax reform. For the latest information on “A Better Way”, visit better.gop.