Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act

This bill, known as the "Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act," establishes new requirements for managing the federal debt limit. It mandates that the Secretary of the Treasury issue a debt limit warning when the nation is within 60 days of breaching the statutory limit, even with extraordinary measures. Any formal Presidential request to increase the debt limit must be accompanied by proposed legislation that includes spending reductions equal to or greater than the requested increase over the current and next 10 fiscal years. These required spending reductions cannot include net interest savings and must be calculated against a specific budget baseline, explicitly excluding any spending designated as an emergency. The bill also creates a point of order in both the House and Senate, preventing consideration of any measure to increase or suspend the debt limit unless it contains corresponding net spending reductions. For debt limit suspensions, the required cuts must match the projected debt increase during the suspension period. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is responsible for calculating these savings, ensuring they adhere to the specified baseline and do not involve timing shifts of outlays or revenues. Furthermore, the CBO's cost estimate for such measures must be publicly available for at least 24 hours before a vote. In the Senate, these points of order can only be waived or appealed by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of its members.