Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act
Sponsored By: Senator John Barrasso
Introduced
Summary
Requires any debt-limit increase or suspension to be matched dollar-for-dollar by spending cuts over a 10-year window. The bill would add new warning steps, force offsetting legislation from the President, and create points of order in Congress that block consideration of debt-limit bills without equal savings.
Show full summary
- Presidents and Congress would have to pair any formal request to raise or suspend the statutory debt limit with proposed legislation that cuts spending over the current year and the next 10 fiscal years by an amount equal to the requested increase or suspension. Net interest savings cannot be counted and emergency-designated spending is excluded from the baseline.
- The Treasury Secretary would be required to issue a debt-limit warning when the statutory limit is expected to be reached within 60 calendar days despite extraordinary measures, and to notify the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee.
- The Congressional Budget Office would score required savings against the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act baseline excluding emergency spending, publish its cost estimate at least 24 hours before a vote, and rules would bar counting timing shifts out of the 10-year window.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Debt limit increases tied to cuts
If enacted, this bill would make any law that raises or suspends the federal debt limit include net spending cuts at least equal to the size of the increase, measured over the current year and the next 10 fiscal years. Net interest savings could not count and savings that just push costs outside the 10-year window would not count. The Congressional Budget Office would compute offsets using a section 257 BBEDCA baseline that excludes emergency-designated spending and post its cost estimate on its website at least 24 hours before a vote. The President would have to send proposed offsetting legislation with any formal debt-limit request, and the Senate could only waive the rule by a three-fifths vote. The Treasury Secretary would have to warn the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees when the debt limit is likely to be reached within 60 days and say when extraordinary measures may be needed.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
John Barrasso
WY • R
Cosponsors
Cynthia Lummis
WY • R
Sponsored 3/24/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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