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Union Calendar No. 279 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 187 

[Report No. 118–340] 

To ensure the payment of interest and principal of the debt of the United 

States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. MCCLINTOCK (for himself, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. GROTHMAN, and Mr. 

GAETZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

JANUARY 9, 2024 

Additional sponsor: Mrs. LESKO

JANUARY 9, 2024 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 9, 2023] 

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A BILL 

To ensure the payment of interest and principal of the debt 

of the United States. 

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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 ‘‘Default Prevention Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF OBLIGATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—At any time that the debt of the 

7 United States Government subject to limitation under sec8 tion 3101 of title 31, United States Code, has reached the 

9 limitation imposed under such section, the Secretary of the 

10 Treasury (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘‘the Sec11 retary’’) shall— 

12 (1) pay Tier I obligations as such obligations be13 come due, 

14 (2) issue such obligations under chapter 31 of 

15 title 31, United States Code, as— 

16 (A) are necessary to make the payments de17 scribed in paragraph (1), or 

18 (B) are to be held exclusively by a trust 

19 fund referred to in subsection (b)(1)(A), 

20 (3) pay Tier III obligations only to the extent 

21 that the Secretary can still pay all Tier II obligations 

22 as such obligations become due, 

23 (4) pay Tier IV obligations only to the extent 

24 that the Secretary can still pay all Tier II and Tier 

25 III obligations as such obligations become due, 

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1 (5) pay Tier V obligations only to the extent that 

2 the Secretary can still pay all Tier II, Tier III, and 

3 Tier IV obligations as such obligations become due, 

4 and 

5 (6) submit to the Committee on Ways and Means 

6 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

7 Finance of the Senate a weekly written report con8 taining the information described in subsection (d). 

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

10 (1) TIER I OBLIGATIONS.—The term ‘‘Tier I ob11 ligations’’ means payments necessary to provide any 

12 of the following: 

13 (A) Payment with legal tender pursuant to 

14 the authority provided under section 3123 of title 

15 31, United States Code, of principal and interest 

16 on debt held by— 

17 (i) the public, 

18 (ii) the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 

19 Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Dis20 ability Insurance Trust Fund, or 

21 (iii) the Federal Hospital Insurance 

22 Trust Fund or the Federal Supplementary 

23 Medical Insurance Trust Fund. 

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1 (B) Payments under the Medicare program 

2 under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.). 

4 (2) TIER II OBLIGATIONS.—The term ‘‘Tier II 

5 obligations’’ means payments necessary to provide 

6 any of the following: 

7 (A) Any obligation of the Department of 

8 Defense. 

9 (B) Benefits under laws administered by the 

10 Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

11 (3) TIER III OBLIGATIONS.—The term ‘‘Tier III 

12 obligations’’ means any obligation of the United 

13 States which is not a Tier I, Tier II, Tier IV, or Tier 

14 V obligation. 

15 (4) TIER IV OBLIGATIONS.—The term ‘‘Tier IV 

16 obligations’’ means any payment which constitutes 

17 any of the following: 

18 (A) Compensation for any Federal employee 

19 for official time under section 7131 of such title 

20 5, United States Code. 

21 (B) Any payment for travel expenses for 

22 any officer or employee of the Executive branch 

23 of Government, including the President and Vice 

24 President, unless such payment is a Tier I or 

25 Tier II obligation. 

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1 (C) Compensation of any officer or em2 ployee of the Executive branch of Government 

3 (other than an individual in the competitive 

4 service, as defined in section 2102 of title 5, 

5 United States Code), including the President and 

6 Vice President, unless such compensation is a 

7 Tier I or Tier II obligation. 

8 (5) TIER V OBLIGATIONS.—The term ‘‘Tier V ob9 ligations’’ means compensation of any Member of 

10 Congress (as that term is defined in section 2106 of 

11 title 5, United States Code). 

12 (c) COORDINATION WITH PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT.—Obli13 gations issued under subsection (a)(2) shall not be taken 

14 into account as subject to the limitation imposed under sec15 tion 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code. The preceding 

16 sentence shall not apply with respect to any obligation after 

17 the first date (after the issuance of such obligation) on 

18 which any modification or suspension of such limitation 

19 takes effect. 

20 (d) WEEKLY REPORTS.—The written report referred 

21 to in subsection (a)(6) shall include, with respect to the pe22 riod covered by such report— 

23 (1) the amount of Tier I obligations paid under 

24 subsection (a)(1) during such period, 

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1 (2) the amount of obligations issued under sub2 section (a)(2) during such period, and 

3 (3) the amount of Tier II obligations, Tier III 

4 obligations, Tier IV obligations, and Tier V obliga5 tions which were paid during such period (stated sep6 arately for each tier) and the aggregate amount of 

7 such obligations which were due and unpaid as of the 

8 close of such period (stated separately for each tier). 

9 (e) NO INFERENCE WITH RESPECT TO EXISTING AU10 THORITY TO PRIORITIZE PAYMENTS.—During any period 

11 with respect to which this section does not apply, nothing 

12 in this section shall be interpreted to restrict the authority 

13 of the Secretary to prioritize the payment of certain obliga14 tions over other obligations. 

Union Calendar No. 279 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 187 

[Report No. 118–340] 

A BILL 

To ensure the payment of interest and principal of 

the debt of the United States. 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

JANUARY 9, 2024 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,