Sponsors (7)
The bill speeds congressional action and can get funding out faster, at the cost of reducing Senate deliberation and increasing the risk of rushed, less-scrutinized or stopgap funding measures.
Federal agencies, programs, and the public are likely to get appropriated funds more quickly because Senate debate on each annual appropriations bill would be capped, speeding passage and reducing funding delays.
House members and taxpayers benefit from retained House authority to block long July adjournments until regular appropriations are passed, maintaining pressure for timely House action on spending.
Senators and their constituents will have fewer opportunities for extended debate and amendment on spending bills because floor debate would be limited to 20 hours, reducing deliberation and constituent input.
A strict 20-hour limit increases pressure to move quickly, raising the likelihood that the Senate will pass omnibus or less-vetted funding packages and creating oversight gaps or poorly considered spending decisions.
Exempting continuing resolutions from the debate limit could incentivize reliance on short-term CRs instead of full appropriations, perpetuating stopgap funding and uncertainty for agencies and state/local partners.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Imposes a 20-hour cap on total Senate debate for any annual appropriation bill and applies section 305 procedures to those bills while exempting continuing resolutions.
Official title: To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to establish certain procedures for consideration of annual appropriation bills, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 20, 2026 by Tom McClintock · Last progress April 20, 2026
Replaces the current statutory rule on consideration of annual appropriation bills by requiring the Senate to use the Senate procedures in section 305 for regular appropriation bills while imposing a hard 20-hour cap on total Senate debate (including amendments, debatable motions, and appeals) for any annual appropriation bill. It exempts continuing resolutions from those procedures and the 20-hour cap, and it preserves the House rule that bars a July adjournment longer than three days until the House has approved annual appropriation bills providing new budget authority for all Appropriations subcommittees, with a requirement that the House Appropriations Chair periodically notify the Speaker about subcommittee jurisdiction changes.