Emergency Spending Accountability Act

The Emergency Spending Accountability Act would create an automatic sequestration mechanism to offset any emergency spending. Starting in the next fiscal year and continuing for the following four years, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must issue orders reducing total budgetary resources by an amount equal to 1/5 of the emergency spending for that year’s emergency. The reductions would apply uniformly across non-exempt programs and accounts and would be offset by reductions in other discretionary or direct spending tied to the emergency measure. Certain programs (like Social Security, Medicare, VA, and others) would be exempt from sequestration. The bill also requires detailed justification for any emergency spending in accompanying bill reports and clarifies definitions related to what counts as “emergency spending.” Overall, the act aims to constrain and account for emergency spending by ensuring it is offset by future reductions elsewhere in the budget.