Our Republican Legacy (ORL) Policy Statement in Support of U.S. Fiscal Responsibility

The issue. The Trump Administration and the U.S. Congress are engaged in the annual budget process, and the current trend lines are not encouraging for the fiscal health of the American economy, our markets, and the preeminence of the U.S. dollar in the global economy. At a historic moment when U.S. fiscal responsibility is paramount to attract investment, promote economic growth, and create greater prosperity for all, the Administration and Congress are on the wrong fiscal path.

As of January 2025, the U.S. national debt was $36.1 trillion and rising. U.S. federal debt as a percentage of our nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) – the value of all goods and services we produce as a nation – is 121 percent, which is unsustainable. It could undermine the U.S. credit worthiness and raise the cost of borrowing for our country and by extension the entire private sector through its crowding-out impact.

Both political parties are responsible for the harmful trends in our annual budget deficits and out-of-control national debt. According to the Committee for a Responsible Budget, during his first term in office President Trump increased the national debt almost $8 trillion, more than all the Presidents combined during the first 216 years of our history. And the Committee estimates that President Joe Biden increased the national debt by roughly $4.7 trillion during his Administration. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R.1) will increase the U.S. debt by another $3.8 trillion, putting us on an unsustainable debt trajectory with a looming debt bomb in our future, to which the financial markets are already reacting negatively.

These trends are unacceptable if we want to ensure a growing and thriving economy that attracts investment capital and creates productive jobs for all. The current fiscal trajectory must be reversed and put on a sustainable path before the rising national debt does further harm to our economy, our country, and our citizens.

ORL policy position. One of ORL’s main guiding principles is fiscal responsibility. We are committed to a sound economy and renewed fiscal discipline to protect our economy and markets. We oppose increasing budget deficits and the national debt in the absence of an agreed framework to reverse the currently unsustainable fiscal trajectory over time. We oppose the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” because of its incontrovertibly negative impact on both the debt and the economy. A credible, binding Fiscal Responsibility Framework will put in place a pathway to reduce our debt-to-GDP ratio over time to a sustainable level.

Action required. During the current budget discussions, ORL calls on the Trump Administration and the U.S. Congress to reach a mutually binding agreement to reduce budget deficits and the national debt over time as a percentage of the nation’s GDP. Specifically, we recommend:

• Any final budget reconciliation agreement should codify a binding, sustainable Fiscal Responsibility Framework, which reduces the U.S. debt-to-GDP on a sustainable downward path over time through a mix of significant spending reductions and responsible revenue enhancements.

  
  

• In general, we support a pay-as-you-go fiscal commitment without budget gimmicks as part of a larger framework, except in times of true national emergency.