S 360119th CongressIn Committee

A bill to provide for across-the-board rescissions of nonsecurity discretionary spending.

Introduced: Feb 3, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

This bill would require automatic, across-the-board rescissions of nonsecurity discretionary spending in each fiscal year starting in 2026. Specifically, nonsecurity discretionary programs funded in regular appropriation acts would be cut by 1% for FY2026, 2% for FY2027, and 5% for FY2028 and each year thereafter, with the reductions applied pro rata (i.e., proportionally across all eligible accounts). The security category (e.g., defense and other classified security programs) would be exempt from these rescissions. The bill also requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report, within 30 days after appropriations are made available, the account-by-account amounts of each rescission to the Senate and House appropriations committees. In short, the measure automates periodic, across-the-board cuts to most nonsecurity discretionary spending unless new action is taken, and it imposes a reporting obligation to track the reductions.

Key Points

1Across-the-board rescissions mechanism: Starting in FY2026, nonsecurity discretionary spending would be reduced by 1%; FY2027 would see a 2% reduction; FY2028 and subsequent years would see a 5% reduction, all on a pro rata basis.
2Scope of the cuts: Only nonsecurity discretionary appropriations provided in regular appropriation acts are impacted; security category spending is expressly excluded.
3Definitions and scope: Terms like budget authority, discretionary appropriations, nonsecurity discretionary appropriations, and regular appropriation act are defined to determine what is subject to the rescissions.
4Automatic application timing: The rescissions take effect on the day after appropriations are made available through the end of the respective fiscal year.
5Reporting requirement: Each year (starting FY2026), the OMB Director must submit a report within 30 days detailing the account and amount of each rescission to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Federal programs and operations funded through nonsecurity discretionary appropriations (e.g., various education, housing, transportation, interior, labor, commerce, health programs not classified as security, and other nondefense initiatives) across multiple federal agencies. Grantees, contractors, and federal employees tied to these programs may experience funding shifts or reductions.Secondary group/area affected- Federal agencies and departments implementing nonsecurity programs would need to adjust broader budgets and program plans to account for automatic reductions. State and local governments and nonprofit organizations relying on these discretionary grants and contracts could face reduced funding or delayed awards.Additional impacts- Possible disruption or scaling back of programs with minor or highly front-loaded funding, since reductions are pro rata across all eligible accounts.- Budget planning and forecasting would be affected, given an automatic reduction regime that operates independently of annual appropriations votes.- Legal and administrative processes would need to accommodate automatic rescissions, including potential impact on ongoing procurements, grant cycles, and service delivery.- Since security-discretionary funding is exempt, defense and other security programs would not be subject to these cuts, preserving security-related activities.- The bill creates an ongoing, auditable mechanism (OMB reporting) to track the size and location of each rescission, increasing transparency but also potentially increasing administrative burden.This is a introduced Senate bill (S.360) from the 119th Congress, sponsored by Mrs. Blackburn, introduced February 3, 2025, and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. The text provided reflects the bill’s provisions as introduced and has not been enacted into law.

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