I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5538 
To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to subject certain direct 
spending programs to annual appropriations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2020 
Mr. BYRNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to subject 
certain direct spending programs to annual appropria-
tions, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mandatory Spending 
Control and Accountability Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS REQUIRED FOR DIRECT 
SPENDING PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632 et seq.) is amended 
by adding after section 315 the following: 
‘‘ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS REQUIRED FOR DIRECT 
SPENDING PROGRAMS 
‘‘SEC. 316. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, in fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year there-
after— 
‘‘(1) each direct spending program shall be subject 
to annual discretionary appropriations; and 
‘‘(2) no funds may be obligated for any such program 
using any amounts other than amounts provided in ad-
vance in appropriations Acts. 
‘‘(b) In this section, the term ‘direct spending pro-
gram’— 
‘‘(1) means— 
‘‘(A) any program with respect to which 
budget authority is provided (before the date of 
enactment of this section) by law other than ap-
propriation Acts; 
‘‘(B) any program that is funded (before 
the date of enactment of this section) through 
entitlement authority; and 
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‘‘(C) the Supplemental Nutrition Assist-
ance Program; and 
‘‘(2) does not include— 
‘‘(A) the old-age and survivors insurance 
program established under title II of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), but not 
including disability insurance benefits under 
section 223 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 423); 
‘‘(B) Medicare programs; 
‘‘(C) all programs administered by the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs; and 
‘‘(D) the TRICARE program (as defined 
in section 1072 of title 10, United States 
Code).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 316 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 316. Annual appropriations required for direct spending programs.’’. 
(c) PRESIDENT’S
BUDGET
SUBMISSION.—Section 
1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(40) such information as is necessary for the 
making of accurate appropriations for direct spend-
ing programs subject to the appropriations process, 
and recommendations on legislative changes to bring 
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