The Senate Committee on the Budget held a hearing on the President’s FY14 budget on April 11, where the sole witness was Jeffrey Zients, the Acting Director and Deputy Director for Management for the Office of Management and Budget. In her opening statement, Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) described the President’s budget as a compromise offer that maintains a commitment to jobs and economic growth. “One of the most important ways that both the Senate budget and the President’s proposal puts the economy first is by replacing sequestration in a fair and responsible way,” Chair Murray said. Chair Murray offered her appreciation of the proposal’s balanced approach to deficit reduction, including a responsible mix of spending cuts and new revenue. Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) began his opening statement by asserting that the President’s budget is not a balanced budget because spending does not equal revenues, and further stated that the proposal increases spending and taxes. Senator Sessions said that total debt will continue to climb and that the request does not include any real reforms for Social Security and Medicare. The proposal “chooses to grow government at the expense of the economy,” and “sequestration was hoped to be avoided, but the cuts in that sequestration were not to be avoided,” Ranking Member Sessions said. Acting Director Zients began his testimony by stating that the President’s budget builds on deficit reduction to date and shows the President’s willingness to compromise. The President’s budget “demonstrates that we can make critical investments to strengthen the middle class, create jobs, and grow the economy,” according to Mr. Zients’ testimony. Mr. Zients presented the proposal within a framework of balanced deficit reduction and jobs investments. Mr. Zients emphasized that the proposal includes more than $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in revenue and this represents more than enough deficit reduction to replace the damaging cuts required by sequestration. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked what the impacts of spending cuts would be on the economy and how to best protect the economy. Ranking Member Sessions asked about the impact on the economy by high levels of gross debt. In both cases, Mr. Zients responded by stating replacing sequestration would be the best action to protect economic growth. Click here to view the hearing’s webcast and related materials.