Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., introduced legislation Friday to repeal the ‘pay-as-you-go’ law that mandates spending cuts or tax hikes to pay for new entitlement benefits, aiming to ease the path for enacting major new government programs.

Jayapal also said in a statement that she had a commitment from House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., to waive the House’s similar pay-as-you-go rule to allow for consideration of "Medicare for All" legislation and other progressive economic priorities on the House floor. The PAYGO rules have become a point of contention between House Democratic leaders and a handful of progressives, including outspoken freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“I have long been concerned about PAYGO and its legislative implications, and earlier this week I received a commitment from Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern to waive PAYGO and Medicare for All and other key progressive priorities,” Jayapal said in a release.

In introducing the bill Friday, Jayapal was joined by several members of the progressive caucus as cosponsors, including Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who both publicly criticized the inclusion of the PAYGO in Democrats' rules for the House in the 116th Congress. McGovern, who told reporters earlier this week that he’d be open to repealing the statutory version of PAYGO, also cosponsored the legislation.



Yesterday we started a convo w/ the rules pkg about ending #PAYGO, a political policy lacking economic merit that sabotages progress where Americans value it most: healthcare, education, housing, & more.



Today I’m proud to cosponsor legislation w/ @RepJayapal to end it. https://t.co/Yybdf7jIqf — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 4, 2019



Jayapal and her caucus co-chair, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., both endorsed and voted for the rules package, helping shore up support from their own caucus to avert a potential embarrassment for Democratic leaders. But both remain opposed to PAYGO and pledged to work to repeal the law that the rule is meant to comply with. The legislation Jayapal authored and introduced on Friday would do just that.

“Taking it out of the rules package does not address the real problem which is that it is a statutory requirement,” continued Jayapal in her release touting the new repeal bill. “That’s why today I am introducing legislation to repeal PAYGO and hold hearings immediately on why PAYGO is bad policy and bad for millions of working Americans who deserve a bold, visionary progressive agenda.”