Budget Process Enhancement Act

This bill tightens the federal budget process. It changes how future spending is projected and adds “no budget, no pay” style rules for Congress and certain White House budget officials when deadlines are missed.

It changes the budget “baseline” by removing automatic increases for inflation and other factors, and by excluding emergency and supplemental funding from the baseline. A baseline is the projection of federal spending and revenue under current law .

If either the House or the Senate hasn’t passed a budget plan for fiscal year 2026 by April 15, 2025, that chamber’s members won’t get their paychecks on schedule. Their pay is put in escrow starting April 16 and released only after a budget plan is passed or at the end of the Congress; normal tax withholding still applies.

The bill also checks whether the President’s annual budget is turned in on time. Within three days of the due date, an inspector general must decide if the President and the budget office followed the law. If they did not, the top three leaders at the Office of Management and Budget stop getting paid for that period, and they cannot get that pay later. These provisions take effect when the bill becomes law.

Key points

• Who is affected: Members of Congress; the Director, Deputy Director, and Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget; and budget scorekeepers who use the federal baseline .
• What changes: No inflation add-ons in the discretionary spending baseline; possible pay delays for Congress if a budget isn’t passed; loss of pay (with no back pay) for OMB leaders if the President’s budget is late .
• When: Budget-plan deadline is April 15, 2025, with escrow starting April 16; the inspector general’s check happens within three days of the budget’s due date; OMB pay penalties take effect upon enactment .