Let’s just get something out of the way. The so-called “pay-as-you-go” rule that House Democrats have touted as one of the reforms they’ve implemented for the 116th Congress is meaningless. Despite the rule, the House will pass legislation that increases the budget deficit, leaving more debt for taxpayers.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

Tucked away in the rules that House Democrats rolled out at the beginning of the 116th Congress is a provision that temporarily suspends the debt limit if the House of Representatives passes a budget resolution. The provision is what’s known as a self-executing rule. This may be legislative inside baseball, but it's a rather radical change to the rules that differs from even from a similar rule employed in the past.

The 116th Congress begins on Thursday, January 3, at 12:00 pm.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed cloture on the motion to concur to the House amendment to S. 756. The bill will serve as the vehicle for the First Step Act, the prison and sentencing reform bill supported by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

There have been a number of news stories in the past 24 hours about a government shutdown over border security. Although FreedomWorks doesn’t take positions on immigration issues, we do work on budget and appropriations issues. What Americans are hearing about the possibility of a government shutdown has not included any clarity on what that means.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a long, well-documented history of abusing federal forfeiture laws. They seize assets from innocent Americans on the mere suspicion of malfeasance. If the IRS believes a citizen is structuring deposits to avoid reporting requirements, the agency can seize your money. Administrative reforms were made in 2015 to roll back some abuses, but there is still much work to be done.