CUTS Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.
Cut Unsustainable and Top-Heavy Spending Act of 2011 or CUTS Act - Rescinds 15% of the budget authority provided for any discretionary account in appropriations to the legislative branch for FY2011, except for the Capitol Police. Prohibits the total amount of funds appropriated to the Executive Office of the President for FY2012-FY2013 from exceeding the total amount for FY2011 after applying the rescission.
Eliminates automatic cost-of-living adjustments for Members of Congress during FY2012-FY2014.
Freezes the total costs for salaries of federal employees (including Department of Defense [DOD] civilian employees, but not members of the Armed Forces) for FY2011-FY2013 at the FY2010 level.
Directs each federal agency head to reduce the number of full time federal employees (FTEs) by 10% by FY2020.
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to take specified steps to reduce federal printing and travel costs.
Rescinds 20% of amounts made available to the General Services Administration (GSA) for acquiring new vehicles for the federal fleet for FY2011, and limits federal vehicle costs and new vehicle purchases for FY2012 and subsequent fiscal years.
Requires the Director of OMB to dispose of a quantity of real property worth at least $15 billion that is unused, and will not be used, to meet federal government needs for FY2010-FY2015. Authorizes the transfer of such property to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) if it is suitable to assist the homeless.
Prohibits the use of federal funds to pay unemployment compensation to millionaires.
Prescribes requirements for eliminating duplicative government programs.
Requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to coordinate with the Department of Treasury and the hiring agency of any federal employee with a seriously delinquent tax debt in order to collect such taxes by withholding a portion of the employee's salary over a certain period.
Prohibits federal voluntary contributions to the United Nations (UN) out of FY2011 funds from exceeding 10% less than the amount provided in FY2010.
The summary continues for 31 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 7, 2011. 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 23, 2011: Referred to the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.
- 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
KEVIN BRADY (R-TX) introduced it on January 7, 2011, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 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 January 7, 2011, 5725 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5650 days ago, on March 23, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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