designate one such individual who shall serve as Chairman
of the Commission.
(4) No current Member of Congress, employee of the
Executive branch, or current or former registered lobbyist
may serve on the Commission.
(d) TERMS.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph
(2), each member of the Commission shall serve until No-
vember 1st of the calendar year in which the member is
appointed.
(2) The Chairman of the Commission shall serve until
the confirmation of a successor.
(e) MEETINGS.—(1) Each meeting of the Commis-
sion, other than meetings in which classified information
is to be discussed, shall be open to the public.
(2) All the proceedings, information, and delibera-
tions of the Commission shall be open, upon request, to
the Chairman and the ranking minority member of the
Budget and Appropriations Committees of each House.
(f) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall
be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(g) PAY
AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.—(1)(A) Each
member, other than the Chairman, shall be paid at a rate
not to exceed the daily equivalent of the minimum annual
rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive
Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States
Code, for each day (including travel time) during vested
in the Commission.
(B) The Chairman shall be paid for each day referred
to in subparagraph (A) at a rate not to exceed the daily
equivalent of the minimum annual rate of basic pay pay-
able for level III of the Executive Schedule under section
5314 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Members shall receive travel expenses, including
per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections
5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
(h) DIRECTOR
OF STAFF.—(1) The Commission
shall, without regard to section 5311(b) of title 5, United
States Code, appoint a Director who has not been em-
ployed by the Federal Government during the 1-year pe-
riod preceding the date of such appointment and who is
not a former Member of Congress or registered lobbyist.
(2) The Director shall be paid at a rate not to exceed
the rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive
Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States
Code.
(i) STAFF.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3),
the Director, with the approval of the Commission, may
appoint and fix pay of additional personnel.
(2) The Director may take such appointments with-
out regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code,
governing appointment in the competitive service, and any
personnel so appointed may be paid without regard to the
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53
of that title relating to classification and General Schedule
pay rates, except that an individual so appointed may not
receive pay in excess of the annual rate of basic pay pay-
able for GS–18 of the General Schedule.
(3) Not more than one-third of the personnel em-
ployed by or detailed to the Commission may be on detail
from any Government agency.
(4) Upon request of the Director, the head of any
Federal department or agency may detail any of the per-
sonnel of that department or agency to the Commission
to assist the Commission in carrying out its duties under
this Act.
(5) The Comptroller General of the United States
shall provide assistance, including the detailing of employ-
ees, to the Commission in accordance with an agreement
entered into with the Commission.
(j) OTHER AUTHORITY.—(1) The Commission may
procure by contract, to the extent funds are available, the
temporary or intermittent services of experts or consult-
ants pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States
Code.
(2) The Commission may lease space and acquire per-
sonal property to the extent funds are available.
(k) FUNDING.—Each department and agency shall
transfer necessary funding to the Commission on a pro
rata basis based on that agency’s or department’s funding
percentage of the total Executive budget.
(l) TERMINATION.—Each Commission shall termi-
nate on November 1st of the year in which the Commis-
sion is appointed.
SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR MAKING RECOMMENDATION FOR
PROPOSED CUTS.
(a) SELECTION CRITERIA.—(1) OMB shall, by no
later than January 1st of each year, publish in the Federal
Register and transmit to the Budget and Appropriations
committees of each House the criteria proposed to be used
by OMB in making budget outlay reduction recommenda-
tions required by section 2(b). OMB shall provide an op-
portunity for public comment on the proposed criteria for
a period of at least 10 days and shall include notice of
that opportunity in the publication required under the pre-
ceding sentence.
(2)(A) OMB shall, by no later than January 15th,
publish in the Federal Register and transmit to the con-
gressional budget and appropriations committees the final
criteria to be used in making recommendations for pro-
gram cuts. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), such
criteria shall be the final criteria to be used in making
such recommendations unless disapproved by a joint reso-
lution of Congress enacted on or before February 1st.
(B) OMB shall amend such criteria, but such amend-
ments may not become effective until they have been pub-
lished in the Federal Register, opened to public comment
for at least 10 days, and then transmitted to the Budget
and Appropriations committees of each House in final
form by no later than February 1st. Such amended cri-
teria shall be the final criteria to be used in making such
recommendations unless disapproved by a joint resolution
of Congress enacted on or before February 15th.
(b) OMB RECOMMENDATIONS.—(1) OMB may, by
no later than April 1st, publish in the Federal Register
and transmit to the congressional budget and appropria-
tions committees and to the Commission OMB’s rec-
ommendations for budget outlay reductions.
(2) OMB shall include, with the list of recommenda-
tions published and transmitted pursuant to paragraph
(1), a summary of the selection process that resulted in
the recommendation.
(3) In considering such outlay reductions, OMB shall
consider all programs without regard to whether such pro-
grams have previously been considered or proposed for
elimination.
(4) OMB shall make available to the Commission and
the Comptroller General of the United States all informa-
tion used by OMB in making its recommendations.
(c) REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE COM-
MISSION.—(1) After receiving the recommendations from
OMB pursuant to subsection (b), the Commission shall
conduct public hearings on the recommendations.
(2) The Director of the Congressional Budget Office
shall notify the Commission on August 1st of any savings
that have been enacted into law for the upcoming fiscal
year. The year’s target for such fiscal year shall be re-
duced by the amount of such savings.
(3)(A) The Commission shall, by no later than Au-
gust 15th, transmit to the President a report containing
the Commission’s findings and conclusions based on a re-
view and analysis of the recommendations.
(B) In making its recommendations, the Commission
may make changes in any of the recommendations made
by OMB.
(4) The Commission shall explain and justify in its
report submitted to the President pursuant to paragraph
(2) any recommendation made by the Commission that is
different from the recommendations made by OMB pursu-