Guthrie Blasts Democrats for Igniting 'Fear Campaign' over the Budget

Budget: House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) fired back at Democrats critical of his budget plan that will get folded into the much larger reconciliation package central to the White House’s economic plan. “From the moment a budget reconciliation bill was on the table, Democrats began their fear campaign to scare Americans without any of the details. Now, Democrats are pedaling incorrect reports that include policies that aren’t even in the bill,” Guthrie said in a statement Monday. Guthrie’s bill – which his committee will debate today – would authorize the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr to identify 600 megahertz of spectrum in an effort to raise $88 billion from a series of airwaves auctions. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) blasted the spectrum plan. “This hyper-partisan reconciliation bill throws our bipartisan efforts on spectrum auction authority in the trash. Instead of directing spectrum auction funds to fund life-saving grants like Next Generation 911 or to make high-speed Internet more affordable for American families, Republicans would rather funnel more tax breaks to billionaires,” she said in a press release. (More after paywall.)