Sec. 2. Establishment of a Debt Commission
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No later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, there shall be established in Congress a Debt Commission. The Debt Commission shall be composed of 16 members, of whom— four members shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate from among the current Members of the Senate; four members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate from among the current Members of the Senate; four members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from among the current Members of the House of Representatives; and four members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives from among the current Members of the House of Representatives.
Members appointed to the Debt Commission shall have significant depth of experience and expertise on fiscal issues. Any vacancy in the Debt Commission shall be filled in the same manner as the initial appointment under subsection (b). From among the members appointed in subsection (b), the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives of the same political party as the President shall designate 1 member, and the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives of the opposite political party as the President, shall designate 1 member to serve as a co-chairs of the Debt Commission.
The co-chairs of the Debt Commission, acting jointly, shall hire the staff director of the Debt Commission. The co-chairs of the Debt Commission may jointly appoint and fix the compensation of staff of the Debt Commission as the co-chairs determine necessary, in accordance with the guidelines, rules, and requirements relating to employees of the Senate. Funding for the Debt Commission shall be derived in equal portions from— the contingent fund of the Senate from the appropriations account Miscellaneous Items , subject to the rules and regulations of the Senate; and the applicable accounts of the House of Representatives.
The Debt Commission shall identify policies to— achieve a sustainable ratio of the public debt of the Federal Government to the gross domestic product of the United States, in the midterm, including changes to address growth, discretionary appropriations, direct spending, and revenues; improve the long-term solvency of Federal programs for which a Federal trust fund exists; and reform budget processes for enhancing the fiscal oversight function of Congress. The Debt Commission shall hold public hearings and require attendance of witnesses and production of books, papers, and documents as the Debt Commission considers advisable.
Not later than 30 days after the date described in subsection (a), the Debt Commission shall hold the first meeting. For each meeting of the Debt Commission, the co-chairs of the Debt Commission shall provide an agenda to the members of the Debt Commission not later than 48 hours before the meeting. The co-chairs of the Debt Commission shall make a public announcement of the date, place, time, and subject matter of any hearing to be conducted under this subsection not later than 7 days before the date of the hearing, unless the co-chairs determine that there is good cause to begin such hearing on an earlier date.
Upon written request of the co-chairs of the Debt Commission, the head of a Federal agency shall provide technical assistance to the Debt Commission in a timely manner in order for the Debt Commission to carry out the duties of the Debt Commission. The co-chairs may establish task forces and working groups to carry out the duties of the Debt Commission, which may include participation by outside experts. The Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall, with respect to the legislative language of the Debt Commission under subsection (l)(1)(B), provide to the Debt Commission— estimates of the legislative language in accordance with sections 308(a) and 201(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 639(a) and 8 601(f)); and information on the budgetary effect of the legislative language on the long-term fiscal outlook.
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives may transmit to the Debt Commission any recommendations of the committee relating to changes in law to achieve the changes described in subsection (i). The co-chairs shall consult with the chairman and ranking minority member of each relevant committee of the Senate and of the House of Representatives regarding the contents of the final report and legislative language under subsection (l).
The consultation required under paragraph
(2)shall provide the opportunity for the chairman and ranking member of each relevant committee of the Senate or of the House of Representatives to provide— recommendations for alternative means of addressing the recommendations contained in the Debt Commission report; and recommendations regarding which recommendations contained in the Debt Commission report should not be addressed in the proposed report. The Chair and Ranking Member of each relevant committee can submit supplemental views to include in the final report under subsection (l). On November 15, 2024, or thereafter, but not later than 30 days before the date specified in section 401(a) of division D of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 ( Public Law 118–5 ), the Debt Commission shall meet to consider, and vote on— a final report that contains a detailed statement of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations required under subsection (i); and legislative language to carry out the recommendations of the Debt Commission in the report described in subparagraph (A), which shall include a statement of the economic and budgetary effects of the recommendations by the Congressional Budget Office. A final report and legislative language of the Debt Commission under paragraph
(1)shall require a separate vote and the approval of a majority of the members of the Debt Commission, provided that such majority shall be required to include not less than 4 members of the Debt Commission appointed by members of the Republican Party and 4 members appointed by members of the Democratic Party. A member of the Debt Commission who gives notice of an intention to file supplemental, minority, or additional views at the time of the final Debt Commission vote on the approval of the report and legislative language shall be entitled to 3 days to file those views in writing with the staff director of the Debt Commission to include in the final report. Upon the approval or disapproval of a report and legislative language under paragraph
(1)by the Debt Commission, the Debt Commission shall promptly, and not more than 24 hours after the approval or disapproval or, if timely notice is given under paragraph (3), not more than 24 hours after additional views are filed under such paragraph (3), make the report, the legislative language, and a record of the vote on the report and legislative language available to the public. If a report or legislative language are approved by the Debt Commission under paragraph (1), not later than 3 days after the date on which the report or legislative language are made available to the public under paragraph (4), the Debt Commission shall submit the report or legislative language to the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the majority and minority leaders of each House of Congress. The Debt Commission shall terminate on the date that is 30 days after the date the Debt Commission submits the final report under subsection
(l)or December 31, 2024, whichever is earlier.
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