Sponsors
The bill trades stronger automatic restraint on discretionary spending and lower deficit risk for the risk of mid‑year, across‑the‑board rescissions that can disrupt services, harm federal workforce operations, and strip Congress of targeted budgetary control.
Taxpayers and the federal budget face lower deficit risk because discretionary spending growth is automatically restrained when appropriations rise faster than 1%, reducing long‑run pressure on federal borrowing.
Federal budgeting gains an automatic fiscal backstop that enforces restraint on discretionary spending growth without requiring new annual legislation, making enforcement predictable and automatic.
State and local governments, nonprofits, and program beneficiaries could face immediate, across‑the‑board rescissions that reduce program capacity and cause short‑term service disruptions for health, education, infrastructure, and other discretionary programs.
Federal employees may experience hiring freezes, furloughs, or reduced operations if agency budgets are cut unexpectedly mid‑year, harming workforce stability and agency performance.
The automatic, across‑the‑board mechanism removes congressional discretion to target reductions, preventing lawmakers from protecting high‑priority programs or tailoring cuts to minimize harm.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Imposes an automatic pro rata cut to nonsecurity discretionary appropriations equal to the percentage growth above 1% in total appropriations, starting in fiscal year 2026.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Claudia Tenney · Last progress January 3, 2025
Requires an automatic, across-the-board cut to nonsecurity discretionary spending in any year when total annual appropriations grow by more than 1% compared with the prior year. The cut equals the portion of growth above 1% (the “excess growth percent”) and applies pro rata to all nonsecurity discretionary appropriations in regular appropriations acts beginning in fiscal year 2026.