REP. JEB HENSARLING (R-TX)
Member
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, who was first elected in 2002, sits on the House Budget and Financial Services committees.
Like many of his Commission colleagues, Rep. Hensarling has argued Social Security must be on the table when considering how to solve the country’s long-term debt problems. He told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews in February the system would have to be “reengineered” for Americans under age 55.
Rep. Hensarling is author of the Family Budget Protection Act, a bill dedicated to reforming the budget process. The bill would impose spending caps, set “expiration dates” for all new programs passed by Congress (which would require Congress to vote to extend spending – and thus to review a program’s effectiveness), and eliminate baseline budgeting (estimating spending increases for future years).
Rep. Hensarling is probably best known for his vote against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP – the 2008 Wall Street bailout plan) and for his exchange on the debt and deficit with President Barack Obama last January.
