H.R. 10780 — Congressional Budget Reform Act

This section requires the House Appropriations Committee to develop each annual appropriation bill through its subcommittees before consolidating them into four measures for full committee markup and reporting to the House. The four consolidated bills group the 12 regular appropriations measures as follows: Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs; State-Foreign Operations, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Financial Services; Transportation-HUD, Energy-Water, and Interior-Environment; and Labor-HHS-Education, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch.

This section requires every general appropriation bill to include a spending reduction account as its final section. It permits en bloc amendments that transfer appropriations from any object in the bill to the account and shields those amendments from points of order or division. It bars all other amendments to the account. It directs the House Budget Committee chair to adjust 302(a) and 302(b) allocations and outlays to reflect the amount in the account. It defines the account as the amount by which the applicable 302(b) allocation exceeds the bill’s proposed new budget authority, or $0 if no allocation is in effect.

This section enacts the provisions of this title as an exercise of the House of Representatives' rulemaking power, making them part of House rules that supersede inconsistent rules, while preserving the House's authority to amend its rules at any time.

This section limits executive branch impoundment of appropriated funds beginning in fiscal year 2027. It requires budget authority proposed for rescission or deferral to remain available for prudent obligation and prohibits any deferral or withholding during the final 90 days of availability. It also requires apportionments to release all amounts for immediate obligation without preconditions during that 90-day period.

This section establishes automatic continuing appropriations during any lapse in appropriations for programs, projects, or activities funded in the preceding applicable appropriation Act. It provides funding at the prior rate for operations for successive 14-day periods until a regular or continuing appropriation Act is enacted, maintains entitlement and mandatory payment levels under current law, and prohibits high initial rates of operation or new grants that would impinge on final funding decisions.

This section directs the Congressional Budget Office Director to publish an annual report by February 15 estimating whether the debt-to-GDP or deficit-to-GDP targets in the most recent concurrent budget resolution will be achieved. The report must assume discretionary appropriations at the levels specified in that resolution and estimate the deficit reduction needed to meet either target while accounting for interest effects.

This section requires concurrent resolutions on the budget to specify the assumed gross domestic product of the United States for each fiscal year covered. It also requires specification of a target ratio (rounded to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent) of either public debt to GDP or the deficit to GDP, along with the ratio of public debt to estimated GDP and the ratio of the surplus or deficit to estimated GDP.

This section establishes special reconciliation procedures in the Senate. If the Congressional Budget Office reports that fiscal targets will not be met by the end of the last fiscal year covered by the most recent budget resolution, the Senate Budget Committee must report by April 15 of the first covered fiscal year a resolution specifying the total deficit reduction amount and period along with directives to Senate committees to change new budget authority, entitlement authority, or revenues. The resolution receives expedited consideration with a 10-hour debate limit, 2 hours of general debate, and amendments restricted to those altering specified amounts or adding or striking committee directives.

This section requires any legislation proposing to modify or exclude the budgetary effects from a PAYGO scorecard to be considered in the House or Senate only as a separate bill or joint resolution containing no other matter. It mandates a recorded vote on passage of any such measure.

This section prohibits official travel by Members of Congress, their personal and committee staff, and Office of Management and Budget personnel during periods of automatic continuing appropriations, except for a single return trip to Washington, travel within the National Capital Region, or responses to national security events. It bars the use of campaign funds for official travel during such periods, with the same return-trip exception. It also restricts Senate and House floor procedures to appropriations measures, debt-limit bills, nominations to level I positions or the Supreme Court after the 30th day of a covered period, and recesses of no more than 23 hours.

This section requires the President's annual budget submission to include the ratio of the public debt to estimated gross domestic product, as well as the ratio of the surplus or deficit to estimated gross domestic product.

This section requires Congress to hold an annual joint meeting, open to public and media coverage, to receive a presentation from the Comptroller General reviewing the audit of the federal financial statement and analyzing the government’s financial position and condition, including net operating costs, budget deficits or surpluses, and long-term fiscal and social insurance projections. The meeting must occur within 45 days (excluding weekends and holidays) after the Secretary of the Treasury submits the audited statement and must follow GAO standards for professional, objective, nonpartisan information.

This section requires each concurrent resolution on the budget to include a statement of findings informed by the most recently conducted Fiscal State of the Nation presentation under 31 U.S.C. 331(f), along with any other appropriate information on the fiscal condition of the United States.

This section requires the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to examine and report on the fiscal risks and short- and long-term fiscal impacts of Federal responses to events such as recessions, domestic energy crises, catastrophic natural disasters, global pandemics, armed conflicts, cyber attacks, and financial crises. It directs the Comptroller General to review the methodology and results of the first such examination, publish findings on the GAO website, and submit them to the Senate and House Budget Committees within one year.