GOP lawmaker: Vote us out of office if we cannot pass budget

The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said lawmakers should be voted out of office if Congress fails to pass a budget this year.

“There was no budget done last year; there was no series of appropriations done last year. Quite frankly, if we do it again this year, I hope they would vote us out of office,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said in an interview Tuesday with Fox Business Network.

{mosads}”It’s really ridiculous not to vote the details of the budget and then the details of appropriations, and last year was the first time that we failed to do a budget since 1974 when the Budget Act was passed,” Issa said.

The failure of Congress to pass a budget bill for fiscal 2011 led to the spending fight that has dominated the opening months of the new Congress.

Beginning late last year, lawmakers approved a series of stopgap bills to keep the government funded. The House and Senate are set to vote this week on a spending deal that would fund the government through the rest of fiscal 2011 while cutting $39.9 billion from 2010 spending.

With the fight over 2011 spending drawing to a close, lawmakers are now turning to the fight over the 2012 budget. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (D-Wis.) released a GOP alternative to President Obama’s 2012 budget blueprint last week that would cut $5.8 trillion in spending over the next 10 years.

President Obama will deliver a major address on government spending and entitlements Wednesday at George Washington University.