HR 5305119th CongressIn Committee

Congressional MRA Act

Introduced: Sep 11, 2025

Economy & Taxes

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Congressional MRA Act would require any portion of a Member’s Representational Allowance (MRA) that remains unspent at the end of a fiscal year to be deposited into the U.S. Treasury and used to reduce the federal deficit, or the federal debt if there is no deficit. The act authorizes the House’s Committee on House Administration to issue regulations to implement the measure and specifies that it would take effect beginning with fiscal year 2026 and for subsequent years. In short, it creates a mandatory “clawback” of unused MRA funds to help shrink the deficit or debt, rather than letting unspent funds carry over to the next year.

Key Points

1Unspent MRA funds must be deposited in the Treasury and used to reduce the deficit (or the debt if no deficit exists).
2The authority to implement and enforce this provision lies with the Committee on House Administration, which can prescribe regulations to carry out the Act.
3Effective date: applies starting with fiscal year 2026 and every year thereafter.
4The bill is named the Congressional Money Returned to America Act, or the Congressional MRA Act.
5It explicitly states that the requirement overrides other laws where applicable, directing how leftover funds are handled.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Members of the House of Representatives and their offices, including staff funded by the MRA. Unspent funds would no longer be available for carryover to future years and instead would be redirected to deficit reduction or debt reduction.Secondary group/area affected: The U.S. Treasury and overall federal budget; the policy would contribute to deficit reduction or debt reduction using funds that would otherwise remain unused.Additional impacts:- Administrative/oversight effects in the House, as the House Administration Committee would issue regulations to implement the program.- Potential effects on office operations and staffing if Members anticipate less carryover flexibility for future years.- Political and transparency considerations, since the reallocation of office funds to deficit reduction changes how constituent resources are perceived and managed.

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