.Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution requiring that each agency and department's funding is justified.
This bill would add a new constitutional amendment aimed at making the federal budget strictly balanced and more agency-specific in funding decisions. It would establish a hard cap on annual spending tied to the U.S. GDP, require that debt increases happen only with a supermajority in Congress, and impose a budgeting process that, in effect, minimizes deficits. A distinctive feature is Section 5, which mandates that every federal department or agency justify its proposed funding line by line, including its impact on carrying out its mission and on GDP, and propose a lower funding level that would still allow the department to complete its essential functions. The amendment also provides emergency waivers during war, active conflicts, imminent threats, or natural disasters, and sets a complex timetable for when the amendment would take effect. If ratified by three-fourths of the states, it would become part of the Constitution within seven years of submission. In short, the bill seeks to lock in deficit reduction through binding spending caps, constrain debt increases and revenue legislation, and impose detailed justification requirements on agency budgeting—shaped by macroeconomic impact—while allowing limited wartime or disaster exemptions.
Key Points
- 1Constitutional spending cap and gradual GDP-based targets: Total outlays in a fiscal year cannot exceed total receipts unless a supermajority (three-fifths) of eachHouse votes to allow a specific excess. The cap starts at 20% of estimated GDP for the first year the amendment takes effect and declines by 0.1 percentage point each year, with a floor of 16% of GDP. Austerity would be avoided only if Congress votes to exceed the cap.
- 2Debt limit increases require a supermajority vote: The limit on the debt held by the public cannot be increased unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House votes in favor via a roll-call vote.
- 3Deficit-free budgeting prerequisite: Before each fiscal year, the President must present a proposed budget in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.
- 4Revenue measures require a supermajority: No bill to raise revenue may become law unless approved by a three-fifths majority of the whole number of each House in a roll-call vote.
- 5Agency-by-agency budget justification: For any proposed funding, the President’s budget must include a justification from every department or agency for each line item, explaining its impact on the agency’s mission, its effect on GDP, and proposing an alternative funding level below the requested amount that would still enable all critical mission functions to be completed. The measure envisions a disciplined, evidence-based budgeting process at the agency level.