Title: No Budget, No Vacation Act
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
No Budget, No Vacation Act
This bill prohibits Congress from recessing, adjourning, considering other matters, or spending funds on official travel beginning on August 1 of each year until both chambers have passed a congressional budget resolution and all of the regular appropriations bills for the next fiscal year. The bill also sets forth requirements for regular quorum calls in the Senate until the budget and appropriations process has been completed.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2930 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2930

  To provide that Congress may not recess, adjourn, or consider other 
   matters after August 1 of any year if Congress has not approved a 
      concurrent resolution on the budget and passed the regular 
       appropriations bills with respect to the next fiscal year.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2018

 Mrs. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Lankford, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide that Congress may not recess, adjourn, or consider other 
   matters after August 1 of any year if Congress has not approved a 
      concurrent resolution on the budget and passed the regular 
       appropriations bills with respect to the next fiscal year.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Budget, No Vacation Act''.

SEC. 2. NO BUDGET, NO VACATION.

    Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 631) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The timetable'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(a) In General.--The timetable''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) No Budget, No Vacation.--
            ``(1) Limits in the senate and house of representatives.--
                    ``(A) In general.--On and after August 1 of each 
                year, if both Houses of Congress have not approved a 
                concurrent resolution on the budget for the next fiscal 
                year and have not passed all the regular appropriations 
                bills for the next fiscal year--
                            ``(i) it shall not be in order in the 
                        Senate or the House of Representatives--
                                    ``(I) to move to recess or to 
                                adjourn; or
                                    ``(II) to move to proceed to the 
                                consideration of any matter other than 
                                a concurrent resolution on the budget 
                                or a regular appropriations bill; and
                            ``(ii) no amounts may be obligated or 
                        expended for official travel by a Member of 
                        Congress.
                    ``(B) No waiver.--Notwithstanding section 904(b), 
                subparagraph (A) may not be waived or suspended in the 
                Senate or the House of Representatives.
                    ``(C) Permanent law.--Notwithstanding section 
                904(a), subparagraph (A)(ii) is not enacted as an 
                exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate or the 
                House of Representatives.
            ``(2) Additional limits in the senate.--
                    ``(A) Determination of presence of a quorum.--In 
                the Senate, on and after August 1 of each year, if both 
                Houses of Congress have not approved a concurrent 
                resolution on the budget for the next fiscal year and 
                have not passed all the regular appropriations bills 
                for the next fiscal year, and notwithstanding any 
                provision of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the 
                Presiding Officer shall direct the Clerk to call the 
                roll to ascertain the presence of a quorum every 6 
                hours.
                    ``(B) Lack of quorum.--
                            ``(i) In general.--If, upon a calling of 
                        the roll under subparagraph (A), it shall be 
                        ascertained that a quorum is not present--
                                    ``(I) the Presiding Officer shall 
                                direct the Clerk to call the names of 
                                any absent Senators; and
                                    ``(II) following the calling of the 
                                names under subclause (I), the 
                                Presiding Officer shall, without 
                                intervening motion or debate, submit to 
                                the Senate by a yea-and-nay vote the 
                                question: `Shall the Sergeant-at-Arms 
                                be directed to request the attendance 
                                of absent Senators?'.
                            ``(ii) Direction to compel attendance.--If 
                        a quorum is not present 30 minutes after the 
                        time at which the vote on a question submitted 
                        under clause (i)(ii) starts, the Presiding 
                        Officer shall, without intervening motion or 
                        debate, submit to the Senate by a yea-and-nay 
                        vote the question: `Shall the Sergeant-at-Arms 
                        be directed to compel the attendance of absent 
                        Senators?'.
                            ``(iii) Arrest of absent senators.--
                        Effective 30 minutes after the Sergeant-at-Arms 
                        is directed to compel the attendance of absent 
                        Senators under clause (ii), if any Senator not 
                        excused under rule XII of the Standing Rules of 
                        the Senate is not in attendance, the Senate 
                        shall be deemed to have agreed an order that 
                        reads as follows: `Ordered, That the Sergeant-
                        at-Arms be directed to arrest absent Senators; 
                        that warrants for the arrests of all Senators 
                        not sick nor excused be issued under the 
                        signature of the Presiding Officer and attested 
                        by the Secretary, and that such warrants be 
                        executed without delay.'.
                            ``(iv) Reports.--Not less frequently than 
                        once per hour during proceedings to compel the 
                        attendance of absent Senators, the Sergeant-at-
                        Arms shall submit to the Senate a report on 
                        absent Senators, which shall--
                                    ``(I) be laid before the Senate;
                                    ``(II) identify each Senator whose 
                                absence is excused;
                                    ``(III) identify each Senator who 
                                is absent without excuse; and
                                    ``(IV) for each Senator identified 
                                under subclause (III), provide 
                                information on the current location of 
                                the Senator.
                    ``(C) Regaining the floor.--If a Senator had been 
                recognized to speak at the time a call of the roll to 
                ascertain the presence of a quorum was initiated under 
                subparagraph (A), and if the presence of a quorum is 
                established, that Senator shall be entitled to be 
                recognized to speak.
                    ``(D) No suspension of requirements.--The Presiding 
                Officer may not entertain a request to suspend the 
                operation of this paragraph by unanimous consent or 
                motion.
                    ``(E) Consistency with senate emergency procedures 
                and practices.--Nothing in this paragraph shall be 
                construed in a manner that is inconsistent with S. Res. 
                296 (108th Congress) or any other emergency procedures 
                or practices of the Senate.''.
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