Only the right has signed this so far (Bill Ranking)
H.R. 402 · 119th Congress (2025-2026)
1 member · Left 0 · Center 0 · Right 1 (Bill Ranking)
| Sponsor | Rep. Schweikert, David (R-AZ) (Introduced 01/14/2025) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Voting Record | Right · DW-NOMINATE +0.55 · measured from every roll-call vote this member has cast (voteview.com) (Sponsor Ranking) |
| Support |
LLLCLRR support across the spectrum: 1 member signed on (Bill Ranking) this bill: sponsor + current cosponsors, each once |
| Committees | House - Ways and Means Committee |
| Latest Action | 01/14/2025 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. |
| Roll Call Votes | There have been no roll call votes |
| Source | view on congress.gov → |
Introduced in House (01/14/2025)
Debt Explanation Before Taxwriters Act or the DEBT Act
This bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee before the federal debt limit is reached or extraordinary measures are taken to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations.
The term extraordinary measures generally refers to a series of actions that the Department of the Treasury may implement to allow the United States to borrow additional funds without exceeding the debt limit. The measures generally include suspensions or delays of debt sales and suspensions or redemptions of investments in certain government funds.
The bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before the committees to provide a detailed explanation of (1) the extraordinary measures that Treasury will take and the administrative costs of taking the measures, and (2) any reversal of such measures and any other changes in the funding of federal government obligations.
119 HR 402 IH: Debt Explanation Before Taxwriters Act U.S. House of Representatives 2025-01-14 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I119th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 402IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJanuary 14, 2025Mr. Schweikert introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and MeansA BILLTo amend title 31, United States Code, to require the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before Congress before the debt limit is reached or extraordinary measures are taken to prevent default.1.Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Debt Explanation Before Taxwriters Act or the DEBT Act.
2.Secretary of Treasury appearance before Congress before reaching debt limit or extraordinary measures taken(a)In generalSubchapter II of chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:3131.Secretary of Treasury appearance before Congress before reaching debt limit or extraordinary measures taken(a)In generalNot more than sixty days and not less than twenty-one days prior to any date on which the Secretary of the Treasury anticipates either that the public debt will reach the limit specified under section 3101, as modified by section 3101A, or that extraordinary measures will be taken to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations, the Secretary shall appear before the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, to submit a detailed explanation of—(1)any extraordinary measures the Secretary will take to fund Federal government obligations prior to such increase and an estimate of the administrative cost of taking such extraordinary measures; and(2)any reversal of such measures, and any other changes taken in the funding of Federal government obligations, as a result of such increase.(b)Extraordinary measures definedFor purposes of this section, the term extraordinary measures means each of the following:(1)Suspending sales of State and Local Government Series Treasury securities.(2)Redeeming existing, and suspending new, investments of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.(3)Suspending reinvestment of the Government Securities Investment Fund.(4)Suspending reinvestment of the Exchange Stabilization Fund.(5)Directing or approving the issuance of debt by the Federal Financing Bank for the purpose of entering into an exchange transaction for debt that is subject to the limit under this section.(6)Suspending investments in the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Thrift Savings Fund.(7)Suspending investments in the stabilization fund established under section 5302 of title 31, United States Code.(8)Suspending new investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.(9)Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, or other invested assets of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund before maturity..(b)Clerical amendmentThe table of analysis for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the following:3131. Secretary of Treasury appearance before Congress before reaching debt limit or extraordinary measures taken..
The bill's own words, from our database (synced from the GPO BILLS XML); paragraph breaks added at the bill's section boundaries, nothing else changed.
| Date | Chamber | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 01/14/2025 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 01/14/2025 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 01/14/2025 | House floor actions | Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. |
| Title Type | Title |
|---|---|
| Display Title | DEBT Act |
| Official Title as Introduced | To amend title 31, United States Code, to require the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before Congress before the debt limit is reached or extraordinary measures are taken to prevent default. |
| Short Title(s) as Introduced | DEBT Act |
| Short Title(s) as Introduced | Debt Explanation Before Taxwriters Act |
There are no amendments to this bill.
There are no cosponsors of this bill.
| Committee | Activity |
|---|---|
| House - Ways and Means Committee | 01/14/2025 Referred To |
No related bill information was received for H.R. 402.
Policy Area: Economics and Public Finance
All data on this page comes from our own database (legislation.congress_* tables), synced daily from the GPO govinfo BILLSTATUS and BILLS collections. Formatted after congress.gov; nothing is generated. Member placement is their DW-NOMINATE score (voteview.com, Lewis et al.) - a measurement of roll-call voting behavior, not our judgement. Buckets: Left below −0.50 · Lean Left to −0.25 · Center to +0.25 · Lean Right to +0.50 · Right above +0.50. The bill's Support meter aggregates the people who signed the bill - sponsor and current cosponsors, each counted once - nothing else.