Debt Limit Control and Accountability Act of 2017
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Debt Limit Control and Accountability Act of 2017
This bill prohibits the Department of the Treasury from using extraordinary measures either to prevent the United States from reaching the statutory debt limit or once the debt limit has been reached.
Under the bill, extraordinary measures are:
suspending investments of the Thrift Savings Plan G Fund or the Exchange Stabilization Fund,
suspending the issuance of new securities to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund,
redeeming early securities held by the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund,
suspending the issuance of new State and Local Government Series securities and savings bonds,
replacing Treasury securities subject to the debt limit with debt issued by the Federal Financing Bank, or
any other extraordinary actions taken by Treasury to avoid defaulting on the obligations of the United States.
The bill also repeals statutory provisions that established procedures for presidential modification of the debt ceiling.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 15, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 15, 2017: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mark Sanford (R-SC) introduced it on March 15, 2017, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 6 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 15, 2017, 3466 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3466 days ago, on March 15, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers