WASHINGTON, D.C .— Kentucky's lone Democratic congressman, John Yarmuth, was re-elected Chairman of the House Budget Committee.

This is Yarmuth's second term as leader. He has been a member of the Committee for more than ten years, serving as Ranking Member during the 115th Congress and Vice Ranking Member during the 114th Congress.

In a statement, Yarmuth said, "It has been a privilege to serve as Chairman of the House Budget Committee and I am deeply honored that my colleagues have entrusted me with another term." He continued, "I am committed to passing the Congressional Power of the Purse Act, legislation I introduced this year, to ensure our laws are strong enough to prevent executive abuse and preserve Congress' authority."

Yarmuth's statement went on to read, “Without question, the top priority for all of us is effectively responding to the COVID pandemic and the resulting economic fallout, and I will ensure that the Budget Committee does everything it can to support this critically important effort. I am excited about the important work ahead of us, and I look forward to working alongside our Committee members, House Leadership, the Biden-Harris Administration, and all of my House colleagues as move our nation forward.”

While the committee under his tenure has held hearings aimed to hold the Trump administration accountable, the group has failed to pass a budget resolution for the past two years and didn't do so when it was previously led by Republicans. A budget resolution is a mission statement that outlines how much Congress should spend to achieve policy priorities.

Yarmuth outlined some of his other priorities, including a budget resolution.

"I have several priorities. We are going to try do a budget resolution. It's going to be very difficult with a small majority in the House but we are going to attempt to do one. We're going to pursue the legislation that we introduced in the last Congress called the Congressional Power of the Purse Act to try to prevent some of the abuses of the budgetary system that the Trump administration committed. And we are going to try to make as strong a case as we can, that we as a country, do not need to worry about the debt we are amassing," Yarmuth said.

In November, Yarmuth was elected to his eighth term in Kentucky's 3rd District, which includes most of Jefferson County. He has held his position since 2007.

Deborah Harbsmeier is the executive producer of digital content for Spectrum News 1 Kentucky. The award-winning producer has been in television news for 30 years.

DC reporter Eva McKend produced the video component of this story.