Last week, I testified at the House Budget Committee hearing on “The Best Metric to Reverse the Curse: A 3% Deficit-to-GDP Path to Fiscal Sustainability” along with Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Jonathan Burks, executive vice president for economic and health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and Jared Bernstein, Ph.D., former chair of the Council of Economic Advisors during the Biden Administration.
To watch the full hearing, check out the House Budget Committee’s Youtube Channel.
With fortuitous timing, grassroots leaders from across the country were in DC for AFP’s annual Capitol Conference. This year’s focus was America’s Affordability Agenda: reforming government, removing barriers, and reducing prices. Some even attended the hearing!
L to R: Alyssa Baker (Kentucky), Kurt Couchman (HQ), Wiselet Rouzard (Nevada)
L to R: Donovan O’Neil (Ohio), Kurt Couchman (HQ), Adam Miller (Ohio)
The 3% deficit-to-GDP target makes good sense and has bipartisan support in the House and the Senate. It has broad backing from budget experts at diverse policy organizations as well.
My testimony addressed the nuts and bolts for Congress to make this broad goal work. Directly targeting the deficit-to-GDP ratio has too much variability to work, but building on the Responsible Budget Targets act tracks the 3% deficit target in a stable and predictable way.
Congress also needs a more effective and comprehensive budget process that includes all spending and revenue, as Representative Blake Moore and I discussed.
A complete budget, preventing shutdowns, and effective automatic enforcement can keep the process from falling apart. Representative Jimmy Panetta and I dug into that a bit.
Representative Josh Brecheen asked what it will take for the American people to recognize the dangers of the debt burden. I said that Americans already get what the problems are. They’re mad at Congress for not doing anything about them:
.@KurtCouchman is absolutely right. The American people are fed up with Congress.
Even as they struggle to stretch their paychecks, they are waiting for Congress to end government shutdowns and deliver a budget of their own. https://t.co/Xre0YVQXMF pic.twitter.com/JvMO6jvAFD
— Americans for Prosperity (@AFPhq) March 27, 2026
Finally, Chairman Arrington asked about economic growth. I agree: “Economic growth is absolutely crucial to expanding prosperity and opportunity for the American people. We will have to do more in the budget than simply growing the economy, although that’s a piece of the puzzle.”
“Economic growth is absolutely crucial to expanding prosperity & opportunity for the American people,”
shared @KurtCouchman yesterday to @HouseBudgetGOP
“We will have to do more in the budget than simply growing the economy, although that’s a piece of the puzzle.” pic.twitter.com/ehXfDRg61N— Americans for Prosperity (@AFPhq) March 27, 2026
Congress needs enforceable budget targets and a working budget process to reverse the curse of public debt and to represent and serve the American people. The Budget Committees can champion these crucial efforts and lead the turnaround we need.
Kurt Couchman is a Senior Fiscal Policy Fellow at Americans for Prosperity.
