Debt Ceiling Alternative Act
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees 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 Government Reform, Financial Services, and appropriationA law permitting federal agencies to spend money. The Constitution forbids any spending without one, Congress's 'power of the purse'.Read the full definition (opens a new tab), 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.
Debt Ceiling Alternative Act
This bill establishes requirements for prioritizing obligations and selling federal assets if the federal debt reaches the statutory limit.
If the Department of the Treasury estimates that the debt will reach the limit during a quarter, the President must ensure that the amount deposited in the Treasury from selling federal assets, disposing of real property, and rescinding unobligated balances is sufficient to prevent the debt from reaching the limit.
To comply with this bill, the President may order the sale of assets, including:
mortgages and real estate held by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and
mortgage-backed securities held by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any federal reserve bank.
The Office of the Management and Budget must establish a Federal Real Property Disposal Pilot Program, under which real property that is not meeting federal government needs may be disposed of using expedited procedures.
If a federal budget deficit exists in 2015 and no later than July 16, 2016, the President may rescind any unobligated balances of funds provided before FY2010.
If the debt reaches the statutory limit, the Department of the Treasury may issue additional obligations solely to pay the principal and interest on debt held by the public and the Social Security trust funds. Obligations issued under this authority are exempt from the debt limit.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on October 9, 2015. 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 October 9, 2015: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Financial Services, and Appropriations, 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 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 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?
David Schweikert (R-AZ) introduced it on October 9, 2015. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 October 9, 2015, 4037 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4037 days ago, on October 9, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 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