IA 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. J. RES. 229 
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States related 
to the public debt. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2024 
Mr. BURLISON submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States related to the public debt. 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled
(two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the fol-
lowing article is proposed as an amendment to the Con-
stitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all 
intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
States within seven years after the date of its submission 
for ratification: 
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‘‘ARTICLE — 
‘‘SECTION 1. Total outlays of the Government of the 
United States shall not exceed total receipts of the Gov-
ernment of the United States at any point in time unless 
the excess of outlays over receipts is financed exclusively 
by debt issued in strict conformity with this article. 
‘‘SECTION 2. Outstanding debt shall not exceed au-
thorized debt, which initially shall be an amount equal to 
105 percent of the outstanding debt on the effective date 
of this article. Authorized debt shall not be increased 
above its aforesaid initial amount unless such increase is 
first approved by the legislatures of the several States as 
provided in section 3. 
‘‘SECTION 3. From time to time, Congress may in-
crease authorized debt to an amount in excess of its initial 
amount set by section 2 only if it first publicly refers to 
the legislatures of the several States an unconditional, sin-
gle subject measure proposing the amount of such in-
crease, in such form as provided by law, and the measure 
is thereafter publicly and unconditionally approved by a 
simple majority of the legislatures of the several States, 
in such form as provided respectively by State law: Pro-
vided, That no inducement requiring an expenditure or tax 
levy shall be demanded, offered or accepted as a quid pro 
quo for such approval. If such approval is not obtained 
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within sixty (60) calendar days after referral then the 
measure shall be deemed disapproved and the authorized 
debt shall thereby remain unchanged. 
‘‘SECTION 4. Whenever the outstanding debt exceeds 
98 percent of the debt limit set by section 2, the President 
shall enforce said limit by publicly designating specific ex-
penditures for impoundment in an amount sufficient to 
ensure outstanding debt shall not exceed the authorized 
debt. Said impoundment shall become effective thirty (30) 
days thereafter, unless Congress first designates an alter-
nate impoundment of the same or greater amount by con-
current resolution, which shall become immediately effec-
tive. The failure of the President to designate or enforce 
the required impoundment is an impeachable mis-
demeanor. Any purported issuance or incurrence of any 
debt in excess of the debt limit set by section 2 is void. 
‘‘SECTION 5. No bill that provides for a new or in-
creased general revenue tax shall become law unless ap-
proved by a two-thirds roll call vote of the whole number 
of each House of Congress. However, this requirement 
shall not apply to any bill that provides for a new end 
user sales tax which would completely replace every exist-
ing income tax levied by the Government of the United 
States; or for the reduction or elimination of an exemp-
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tion, deduction, or credit allowed under an existing general 
revenue tax. 
‘‘SECTION 6. For purposes of this article, ‘debt’ 
means any obligation backed by the full faith and credit 
of the Government of the United States; ‘outstanding 
debt’ means all debt held in any account and by any entity 
at a given point in time; ‘authorized debt’ means the max-
imum total amount of debt that may be lawfully issued 
and outstanding at any single point in time under this 
article; ‘total outlays of the Government of the United 
States’ means all expenditures of the Government of the 
United States from any source; ‘total receipts of the Gov-
ernment of the United States’ means all tax receipts and 
other income of the Government of the United States, ex-
cluding proceeds from its issuance or incurrence of debt 
or any type of liability; ‘impoundment’ means a proposal 
not to spend all or part of a sum of money appropriated 
by Congress; and ‘general revenue tax’ means any income 
tax, sales tax, or value-added tax levied by the Government 
of the United States excluding imposts and duties. 
‘‘SECTION 7. This article is immediately operative 
upon ratification, self-enforcing, and Congress may enact 
conforming legislation to facilitate enforcement.’’. 
Æ 
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