I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1289 

To require that any debt limit increase or suspension be balanced by equal 

spending cuts over the next decade. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. FEENSTRA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, 

and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require that any debt limit increase or suspension be 

balanced by equal spending cuts over the next decade. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dollar-for-Dollar Def5 icit Reduction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 31. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 

8 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec9 tion 3101A the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3101B. Debt limit control 

2 ‘‘(a) DECLARATION OF A DEBT LIMIT WARNING.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a near 

4 breach of the public debt limit established by section 

5 3101, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a 

6 debt limit warning to the Committee on Finance of 

7 the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means 

8 of the House of Representatives that shall include a 

9 determination as to when extraordinary measures 

10 may be necessary in order to prolong the funding of 

11 the United States Government. 

12 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

13 ‘‘(A) EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES.—The 

14 term ‘extraordinary measures’ means measures 

15 that may be taken by the Secretary of the 

16 Treasury in the event of a breach of the debt 

17 limit by the United States to prolong the func18 tion of the United States Government in the ab19 sence of a debt limit increase. 

20 ‘‘(B) NEAR BREACH.—The term ‘near 

21 breach’ means the point at which the Secretary 

22 of the Treasury determines that the United 

23 States Government will reach the statutorily 

24 prescribed debt limit within 60 calendar days 

25 notwithstanding the implementation of extraor26 dinary measures. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PRESIDENTIAL SUBMISSION OF DEBT LIMIT

2 LEGISLATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) SAVINGS RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE

4 PRESIDENT.—Any formal Presidential request to in5 crease the debt limit under this section shall include 

6 the amount of the proposed debt limit increase and 

7 be accompanied by proposed legislation to reduce 

8 spending over the sum of the current and following 

9 10 years by an amount equal to or greater than the 

10 amount of the requested debt limit increase. Net in11 terest savings may not be counted towards spending 

12 reductions required by this paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(2) CALCULATION.—The spending savings 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be calculated against a 

15 budget baseline consistent with section 257 of the 

16 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

17 Act of 1985. This baseline shall exclude the extrapo18 lation of any spending that had been enacted under 

19 an emergency designation.’’. 

20 (b) SUBCHAPTER ANALYSIS.—The table of sections 

21 for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

22 by inserting after the item for section 3101A the following: 

‘‘3101B. Debt limit control.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL REQUIREMENT TO RESTRAIN 

2 SPENDING WHILE RAISING OR SUSPENDING 

3 THE DEBT LIMIT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congress and 

5 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended 

6 by inserting at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 316. DEBT LIMIT INCREASE POINT OF ORDER. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) POINT OF ORDER.—Except as provided in 

10 subsection (b), it shall not be in order in the Senate 

11 or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, 

12 joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference 

13 report that increases the statutory debt limit unless 

14 the bill contains net spending reductions of an equal 

15 or greater amount over the period of the current and 

16 next 10 fiscal years. Net interest savings may not be 

17 counted towards spending reductions required by 

18 this paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS OF NET SPENDING REDUC20 TION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—The savings result22 ing from the proposed spending reductions 

23 under paragraph (1) shall be calculated by the 

24 Congressional Budget Office against a budget 

25 baseline consistent with section 257 of the Bal26 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 


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1 Act of 1985. This baseline shall exclude the ex2 trapolation of any spending that had been en3 acted under an emergency designation. 

4 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—The Senate and the 

5 House of Representatives may not vote on any 

6 bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or 

7 conference report that increases the public debt 

8 limit unless the cost estimate of that measure 

9 prepared by the Congressional Budget Office 

10 has been publicly available on the website of the 

11 Congressional Budget Office for at least 24 

12 hours. 

13 ‘‘(C) PROHIBIT TIMING SHIFTS.—Any pro14 vision that shifts outlays or revenues from with15 in the 10-year window to outside the window 

16 shall not count towards the budget savings tar17 get for purposes of this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(b) SENATE SUPERMAJORITY WAIVER AND AP19 PEAL.— 

20 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—In the Senate, subsection (a)(1) 

21 may be waived or suspended only by an affirmative 

22 vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and 

23 sworn. 

24 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—An affirmative vote of three25 fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and 


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1 sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the 

2 ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under 

3 subsection (a)(1). 

4 ‘‘SEC. 317. DEBT LIMIT SUSPENSION POINT OF ORDER. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

6 ‘‘(1) POINT OF ORDER.—Except as provided in 

7 subsection (b), it shall not be in order in the Senate 

8 or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, 

9 joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference 

10 report that suspends the statutory debt limit unless 

11 the bill contains net spending reductions over the pe12 riod of the current and next 10 fiscal years in an 

13 amount that is equal to or greater than the pro14 jected debt amount for the period of the suspension 

15 of the statutory debt limit as determined by the 

16 Congressional Budget Office in accordance with 

17 paragraph (3). Net interest savings may not be 

18 counted towards spending reductions required by 

19 this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS OF NET SPENDING REDUC21 TION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—The savings result23 ing from the proposed spending reductions 

24 under paragraph (1) shall be calculated by the 

25 Congressional Budget Office against a budget 


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1 baseline consistent with section 257 of the Bal2 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

3 Act of 1985. This baseline shall exclude the ex4 trapolation of any spending that had been en5 acted under an emergency designation. 

6 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—The Senate and the 

7 House of Representatives may not vote on any 

8 bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or 

9 conference report that increases the public debt 

10 limit unless the cost estimate of that measure 

11 prepared by the Congressional Budget Office 

12 has been publicly available on the website of the 

13 Congressional Budget Office for at least 24 

14 hours. 

15 ‘‘(C) PROHIBIT TIMING SHIFTS.—Any pro16 vision that shifts outlays or revenues from with17 in the 10-year window to outside the window 

18 shall not count towards the budget savings tar19 get for purposes of this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(3) CALCULATION OF PROJECTED DEBT

21 AMOUNT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the Con22 gressional Budget Office shall determine the amount 

23 of projected debt for the period for which the bill, 

24 joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference 


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1 report suspends the statutory debt limit by calcu2 lating the difference between— 

3 ‘‘(A) the amount the statutory debt is pro4 jected to be on the date on which the suspen5 sion of the statutory debt limit is to end, as de6 termined by the debt projection of the Congres7 sional Budget Office, and 

8 ‘‘(B) the amount of statutory debt as of 

9 the date on which the suspension of the statu10 tory debt limit is to begin. 

11 ‘‘(b) SENATE SUPERMAJORITY WAIVER AND AP12 PEAL.— 

13 ‘‘(1) WAIVER.—In the Senate, subsection (a)(1) 

14 may be waived or suspended only by an affirmative 

15 vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and 

16 sworn. 

17 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—An affirmative vote of three18 fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and 

19 sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the 

20 ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under 

21 subsection (a)(1).’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con23 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget 

24 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in25 serting after section 315 the following: 


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‘‘Sec. 316. Debt limit increase point of order. 

‘‘Sec. 317. Debt limit suspension point of order.’’. 

Æ 


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