Sustainable Budget Act of 2025
Sustainable Budget Act of 2025 would create the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to analyze and propose policies aimed at stabilizing the federal government's long-term finances. The 18-member Commission would be bipartisan in structure and staffed with experts from government and private sectors. Its core mandate is to identify measures that balance the budget within 10 years (excluding interest payments on the debt) and to deliver recommendations to improve the long-term fiscal outlook, including addressing entitlement growth and gaps between projected revenues and expenditures. The Commission must issue a final report within one year (with possible interim reports), and its recommendations would be transmitted to Congress with a proposed joint resolution to implement them. A key feature is the expedited, Congress-wide process to consider and enact implementing legislation. The President would transmit a proposed joint resolution (based on the Commission’s report) after consulting with congressional leaders and relevant committees, and this joint resolution would be subject to a fast-track, no-amendment procedure in both the House and Senate. The measure relies on ongoing technical input from GAO, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation, and the Commission would eventually terminate shortly after delivering its final report. There is no automatic funding set aside; appropriations would be as needed.
Key Points
- 1Establishment and bipartisanship of a National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (18 members, with co-chairs from opposing parties designated by the President) to propose measures to balance the budget and improve long-term fiscal outlook.
- 2Specific fiscal goals: balance the budget (excluding debt service) within 10 years and address long-term drivers such as entitlement spending and the revenue-expenditure gap.
- 3Reporting requirements: a final report within 1 year of appointments, with interim reports allowed; any approved report must have cross-party support (minimums of members from both Speaker and minority leader parties) and be published publicly.
- 4Expedited congressional process: after the Commission report, the President must submit a proposed joint resolution to implement the recommendations; the House and Senate must follow tight, no-amendment procedures to consider and pass the joint resolution rapidly.
- 5Access to expert support and staffing: the Commission can obtain technical assistance from GAO, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation; it can hire staff and operate with flexible personnel rules, within statutory pay limits, and with appropriations as needed.