One of the basic duties of the House of Representatives is to keep the federal government properly funded. Keeping the federal government funded and running is important for so many reasons, but it is especially critical for keeping our nation safe and secure from threats across the globe.

Unfortunately, this Democrat-led House continues to kick the can down the road by not passing a proper budget for the fiscal year. Instead of completing this basic task, Democrats have made tax increases and social spending their top priorities, while putting their basic duties on the back burner.

This week, we are finding ourselves in the same spot we got stuck in twice last year where the House is scrambling to pass a stop-gap funding bill to keep the federal government from shutting down. Last fall, Democrats had to scramble to keep the federal government funded because they had spent the entire year arguing over how many trillions of dollars to spend on things like Green New Deal projects and mass amnesty for illegal immigrants.

We’ve been operating under last year’s stop-gap funding bill for the last few months, and the House has had plenty of time to put together a legitimate budget. Instead, Democrats have spent all their time on ridiculous things like ramming through a bill to strengthen China and weaken America. Last week, they passed their so-called tough on China bill which gives $8 billion to a U.N. slush fund that has already funneled $100 million to the Chinese Communist Party in an effort to work WITH China to combat climate change. It’s clear this was a bigger priority for the Democrats than doing the work the American people elected us to do.

Democrats have celebrated each stop-gap funding bill they’ve passed and have pretended each one is a victory. This is far from the truth because without a legitimate budget, the Department of Defense is severely handicapped in its ability to properly fund our nation’s defense programs. This causes our military to fall behind in its readiness to ensure our forces are maintained and equipped to meet the security challenges we are facing on the global stage. With so much unrest in the world, this isn’t the time to fall behind while bad actors such as Russia and China continue moving forward.

The American people elected us to do our basic duty to keep the federal government running and ensure the interests of America are protected. Unfortunately, this Democrat-led House is showing yet again that it is unable to fulfill its basic duties. Our constituents deserve better than this.

Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.