WASHINGTON, DC – A U.S. congressman from the Sunshine State has introduced legislation aimed at forcing Congress to cut federal spending before it further raises or suspends the nation’s debt limit.
In a release on Tuesday, the congressman — U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (R-Florida) — unveiled the legislation, dubbed the “Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act.”
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Under the proposal, any debt-limit increase or suspension would have to be matched by equal or greater spending reductions over the current fiscal year and the following 10 years.
Steube argued that repeated debt-limit increases without spending reductions shift costs to future generations.
“Congress cannot keep raising the credit limit on the American people without cutting up the credit card,” Steube said. “Every time we raise the debt limit without cutting spending, we hand our children and grandchildren the bill for our own recklessness.”
A companion version is being led in the U.S. Senate by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming). Barrasso criticized what he called “out-of-control spending” and said the bill would move the country toward “financial stability.”
The bill would also establish a procedural hurdle — a point of order in both the House and Senate — against bringing debt-limit legislation to the floor if it does not include matching spending cuts. It requires a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate to be publicly available at least 24 hours before a vote.
Additional provisions would require the Treasury secretary to notify key tax-writing committees when the U.S. is nearing the debt ceiling and when “extraordinary measures” may be needed. The legislation also seeks to block budget maneuvers, including counting net interest savings as spending cuts or shifting costs beyond the 10-year window.