-Dillon tells Bility on separate budget hearing
Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon has issued a public challenge to Nimba County District #7 lawmaker and Political Leader of the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC), Representative Musa Hassan Bility, to file a lawsuit against the Liberian Senate if he believes they are proceeding illegally during the ongoing Budget hearing.
It can be recalled that Representative Bility, on Monday, December 1, 2025, wrote to the Plenary of the House of Representatives to intervene and halt the ongoing national budget hearings being conducted by the Liberian Senate.
In a communication addressed to House Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon and members of the House, Rep. Bility emphasized the need to preserve constitutional order in the legislative process, highlighting Article 34(d)(i) of Liberia's 1986 Constitution, which grants the House of Representatives exclusive authority to originate all fiscal legislation, including the National Budget.
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Rep. Bility argues that the Senate's role is limited to concurring or declining to concur with budget bills only after they have been passed by the House, adding that the Senate's decision to conduct budget hearings before the House has reviewed the draft budget is unconstitutional and procedurally improper.
He, however, outlines three key concerns stating; that the Senate's actions violate Article 34(d)(i) by assuming an originating authority not granted by the Constitution, that the hearings are procedurally flawed, as the Senate cannot act on a budget that the House has not yet finalized and the situation risks causing institutional conflict, legislative disorder, and constitutional uncertainty.
But Sen. Dillon, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, argued that the argument raised by his colleagues that the Senate is in "constitutional error" on holding separate budget hearings from the House is not simply legally lazy but is only intended to keep him in the news as usual.
"Let me educate you here and now that the House of Representatives DOES NOT have SOLE/EXCLUSIVE authority to review and appropriate the National Budget, as in the case of the Senate's SOLE authority when it comes to CONFIRMATION of public officials," he asserted.
Senator Dillon further maintained that the passage of the Budget "originates" in or at the House of Representatives (Article 34 (d) of the Constitution), adding that the Senate also has concurrence authority.
He, however, noted that the Senate "may" concur on what the House passed or can decide to make "amendments" (input) before concurring, stressing that because the passage "originates" IN the House does not preclude or prohibit the Senate from holding hearings before the House acts.
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"No! What the Senate is prohibited from doing is voting to pass the Budget ahead of the House. Note: that the Budget can never be a Law WITHOUT concurrence of the Senate. It is left to the discretion of the Senate to simply concur on what the House passed or can decide to include or do some amendments on what the House passed," Dillon emphasized.
The Montserrado County Senator further noted that when the Senate makes material proposals (input) different from what the House passed, both Chambers would meet on a legislative Conference Committee to harmonize the material differences and finally pass one version of the Budget before enrolling it to the Executive for approval. _edited by Othello B. Garblah.
