Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Dec 16, 2015
Constitutional Amendment
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total outlays from exceeding total receipts for a fiscal year unless Congress authorizes the excess by a three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber. The prohibition excludes outlays for repayment of debt principal and receipts derived from borrowing.
The President must submit a balanced budget to Congress annually. If the President does not submit a balanced budget for a fiscal year, no executive orders may be issued until the earlier of the submission of a balanced budget or the first day of the fiscal year.
A three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber of Congress is required to increase the public debt limit.
Congress may waive the requirements for any period during which the United States is engaged in military conflict that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security.
Source last updated: Jan 3, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze H.J.Res.79 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine H.J.Res.79 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine H.J.Res.79 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine H.J.Res.79 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.