Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas was chosen last month to replace a fellow Republican, Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee, as chairman of the House Budget Committee. With fiscal 2018 appropriations yet to be finalized, Womack finds himself in an uncertain position. If a deal is reached to raise the Budget Control Act caps for 2019, some of his fellow Republicans might not want to do a budget. That would be a failure. While nonbinding, the budget resolution sets out important policy initiatives and paves the way for reconciliation, a powerful tool to making meaningful reform a reality.
