House Budget Committee Holds Field Hearing on Fiscal Commission Legislation

September 25, 2026

House Budget Committee Holds Field Hearing on Fiscal Commission Legislation

On Monday, members of the House Budget Committee held a field hearing entitled “America’s Fiscal Future: Examining the Need for a Fiscal Commission” at the Old Parkland business campus in Dallas, Texas. Led by Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (TX), members heard from former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former Sen. Joe Manchin (WV), and former Sen. Rob Portman (OH) – who all support a fiscal commission.

A fiscal commission is an advisory group created by Congressional leaders in order to develop policy options for reducing the national deficit, including methods to cut earned benefits. The groups usually have a mixture of handpicked lawmakers and outside experts as members.

No witnesses who opposed fiscal commissions testified.

Five Texas Alliance members tried to attend but were forced to stand outside in extreme heat arguing with staff demanding to know who invited them and claiming that there was not room. After 45 minutes, two of the five were allowed in. Billionaire Harlan Crow – who owns Old Parkland and is a frequent Republican political donor – attended.

Click to watch a video by Progress Texas showing Alliance members trying to get inside to watch the meeting.

“Passing the buck is simply not the answer. The buck stops here, and I have to admit, I’m a commission skeptic,” said Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (PA) in his opening statement. “I do fear there are others who would vote for a commission as a way of saying ‘oh look, I’m pretending to do something about this now. I can just push this off and ignore it.’”

Last month, the Alliance sent a letter to every member of Congress urging them to oppose three bills that aim to create a fiscal commission: the PROMISE Act (S. 4979), the Fiscal Commission Act (H.R. 3289/S. 4012), and the Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act (H.R. 9187).

“A fiscal commission will not strengthen Social Security and Medicare,” said Robert Roach, Jr., President of the Alliance. “Every major seniors organization opposes these commissions for a reason. They waste valuable time and send hand-picked people to go behind closed doors, cut our earned benefits without public oversight or input, and then fast-track those cuts through Congress.”

Click here to tell your members to vote “NO” on any fiscal commission legislation.