TRUST Act of 2021
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on oversightCongress's review of how the executive branch carries out the laws it passed: hearings, document demands, investigations, and the spending power behind them.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdictionA court's legal authority to hear a case: over the subject matter, the parties, and the territory.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) of the committee concerned.
Time to Rescue United States Trusts Act of 2021 or the TRUST Act of 2021
This bill establishes congressional rescue committees to develop recommendations and legislation to improve critical social contract programs.
A critical social contract program is a federal program
for which a federal trust fund is established (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, and federal highway programs),
with outlays of at least $20 billion during the year preceding the year in which this bill is enacted, and
for which the amount of dedicated federal funds and federal trust fund balances will be inadequate to meet the total amount of outlays of the program that would otherwise be made.
Each rescue committee may develop recommendations and legislation to improve the program for which it was established, including by (1) increasing the duration of positive balances of the federal trust fund established for the program, and (2) providing for the solvency of the federal trust fund established for the program during a 75-year period.
Congress must use specified expedited legislative procedures to consider legislation that is approved and submitted by the rescue committees.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 15, 2021. 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 April 15, 2021: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- 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 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?
Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced it on April 15, 2021, and 13 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 4 Democrats, 9 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 April 15, 2021, 1974 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1974 days ago, on April 15, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 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