Beyond the Gridlock: Bipartisan Fiscal Solutions

Last updated on May 27, 2026.

The national debt is on track to exceed record levels in just a few years. It took many bipartisan actions to get us into this fiscal situation, and it will take bipartisan efforts to get us out of it. Below are several bipartisan proposals to improve the nation’s fiscal outlook:

AT A GLANCE:

  • Fiscal Commission Act: This bill would create a 16-member commission to identify policies to stabilize the debt-to-Gross Domestic Product ratio by 2039 and improve the solvency of federal trust funds.
  • Sustainable Budget Act: This bill would create an 18-member commission to develop recommendations to balance the budget over 10 years and achieve long-term sustainability.
  • 3% Resolution: This resolution calls on Congress to reduce the federal budget deficit to 3% of GDP.
  • Fiscal Contingency Preparedness Act: This bill would mandate that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget complete an annual assessment of the government’s fiscal strength if faced with various emergencies.

Fiscal Commission Act (FCA)

Summary:

The House and Senate versions of this bill would create a 16-member fiscal commission to identify policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and achieve a sustainable debt-to-GDP ratio in the long term. For any recommendations related to federal programs for which a federal trust fund exists, solvency must be improved for at least 75 years.

The commission’s main goal would be to provide Congress with recommendations to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio at or below 100% by Fiscal Year (FY) 2039. The commission would also have to propose recommendations that meaningfully improve the long-term fiscal outlook, including changes to address the growth of direct spending and the gap between revenues and expenditures.

The commission would be comprised of 12 members of Congress, chosen evenly by the leadership of both parties in the House and Senate, along with four non-voting outside experts. If the commission’s policy recommendations are approved by a majority of the lawmakers on the panel, with at least two from each party, its recommendations would be sent to Congress. The commission could provide policy recommendations no earlier than the week after the 2026 election and no later than April 13, 2027. The proposal would require the commission’s findings to be made public, regardless of whether its members voted to approve or reject them. If policy recommendations are approved by the commission, they would receive expedited consideration in both chambers of Congress and could not be amended. However, the recommendations would still be subject to the filibuster in the Senate, therefore requiring 60 votes to pass the chamber.

There have been some points of confusion on how a commission would function and the extent of public input into the process, which are comprehensively addressed in our Fiscal Commission Act: Just the FAQs blog.

Background:

Congress has created commissions with various mandates over the past few decades, including commissions focused on Social Security, Medicare, the number of military bases, and the budget and appropriations processes. Commissions can address politically challenging issues, provide a venue for lawmakers to discuss them, and create space to develop bipartisan solutions. While a commission’s recommendations are not always adopted, many commissions have been successful in developing “off-the-shelf” policy solutions that can be used in the future. Since Congress itself has been unable to tackle these long-term fiscal challenges, lawmakers have looked at commissions as a potential avenue to address them. 

Status:  

The FCA was reintroduced in the House on May 8, 2025, where it was referred to the Budget and Rules Committees, and reintroduced in the Senate on March 5, 2026, where it was referred to the Rules and Administration Committee (the Senate version of the FCA was titled the Fiscal Stability Act last Congress).

Last Congress, the FCA was approved by the House Budget Committee on January 18, 2024, by a vote of 22 to 12, with three Democrats joining all the committee’s Republicans.

Sponsors:  

House: Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Scott Peters (D-CA) – full list of cosponsors here

Senate: Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Angus King (I-ME) – full list of cosponsors here

CRFB statement:

On March 10, 2026, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas issued a statement on the bill, a portion of which is below:

A commission isn’t a substitute for policy change or for political will, but rather a tool to support both. It offers a venue for honest dialogue to occur, where our elected officials can talk to – not past – each other, and it eases some of the burden of making the choices that are difficult but necessary. A bipartisan commission creates the opportunity for lawmakers to begin fixing the debt.

Relevant press releases, blog posts, and other resources:

Sustainable Budget Act (SBA)

Summary:

This bill would create an 18-member fiscal commission tasked with developing recommendations with a non-binding goal of balancing the federal budget over 10 years (excluding interest) and ensuring long-term sustainability, including changes to address the growth of entitlement spending and the gap between projected federal revenues and expenditures.

The commission would include six presidential appointees – three from each party in the House and Senate and two bipartisan co-chairs. The commission would have one year to submit policy recommendations to Congress, which must be approved by 12 of the 18 members, with at least four Democrats and four Republicans.

If approved, the recommendations would be fast-tracked in Congress. The President would submit a joint resolution within 60 days, after consulting with committee leaders, and the resolution would be considered without amendments in both chambers, with the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to end debate remaining.

There have been some points of confusion on how a commission would function and the extent of public input into the process, which are comprehensively addressed in our Fiscal Commission Act: Just the FAQs blog.

Background:

Congress has created commissions with various mandates over the past few decades, including commissions focused on Social Security, Medicare, the number of military bases, and the budget and appropriations processes. Commissions can address politically challenging issues, provide a venue for lawmakers to discuss them, and create space to develop bipartisan solutions. While a commission’s recommendations are not always adopted, many commissions have been successful in developing “off-the-shelf” policy solutions that can be used in the future. Since Congress itself has been unable to tackle these long-term fiscal challenges, lawmakers have looked at commissions as a potential avenue to address them. 

Status:

The SBA was reintroduced in the House on January 7, 2025, where it was referred to the Budget and Rules Committees. Last Congress, the Budget Committee held a hearing on the bill.

Sponsors:

House: Representatives Ed Case (D-HI) and Steve Womack (R-AR) – full list of cosponsors here

CRFB statement:

On January 15, 2025, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas issued the following statement:

We commend Representatives Case and Womack, along with co-introducers Representatives Peters and Nunn, for working together in a bipartisan fashion to put forward the Sustainable Budget Act. This legislation would create a commission to serve as a venue for constructive bipartisan negotiations to improve our country’s fiscal future. We applaud them for introducing this bill to pursue bipartisan solutions to reduce our nation’s debt.

Relevant press releases, blog posts, and other resources:

3% Resolution

Summary:

The House and Senate versions of the resolution call on Congress to reduce the federal budget deficit to 3% of GDP. The resolutions declare that the national debt represents a threat to national security and economic growth, and risks increasing interest rates and the cost of living.

The resolutions also state that deficit reduction is best achieved when lawmakers have a manageable, meaningful fiscal goal to aim for. In addition to describing the rationale for the target, the resolutions outline potential enforcement mechanisms, laying the groundwork for the next steps Congress can take to reach the 3% of GDP deficit target.

The resolutions recommend several such steps, including:

  1. The President should submit budgets designed to create a path to meet and sustain the target;
  2. The Congressional budget resolution should set allocations consistent with meeting the target on schedule;
  3. The Budget committees should recommend enforcement options, and the chambers’ respective Rules committees should recommend changes to ensure compliance with a 3% of GDP deficit target.

Background:

The national debt held by the public is more than $31 trillion, annual interest costs exceed what we spend on our national defense, and deficits are approaching $2 trillion per year. Failure to adopt meaningful deficit reduction strategies will lead to slower income growth, higher interest rates, heightened national security risks, reduced fiscal space to address future emergencies, and increased risk of a fiscal crisis.

Deficits are expected to total 6.1% of GDP over the next decade, far exceeding the level needed to stabilize or reduce the national debt. Despite the current debt trajectory, the U.S. lacks any widely agreed-upon fiscal target to guide decision-making or to signal credibility to financial markets.

While there is no single “right” fiscal target or level of borrowing, reducing deficits to 3% of GDP would be sufficient to put debt on a downward path relative to the economy and realistic enough to be achievable. Further, the United States averaged a 3% deficit between 1970 and 2020. More modest targets would leave the nation on an unsustainable path, while more ambitious targets are likely out of reach in the near term.

Status:

The 3% resolution was introduced in the House on January 7, 2026, where it was referred to the Budget, Ways and Means, and Rules committees, and introduced in the Senate on March 20, 2026, where it was referred to the Budget Committee.

On March 26, 2026, the House Budget Committee held a hearing on a 3% deficit-to-GDP target.

Sponsors:

House: Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Scott Peters (D-CA), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), and Mike Quigley (D-IL) – full list of cosponsors here

Senate: Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Angus King (I-ME) – full list of cosponsors here

CRFB statement:

On March 23, 2026, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas issued a statement, a portion of which is below: 

The 3% of GDP deficit target is aggressive enough that it would put our debt-to-GDP on a sustainable path, and it’s viable enough that it could actually be achieved. It has broad domestic support and international precedent, and would be enough to assure markets that we’re not on a road toward a fiscal crisis.

Of course, talk is cheap. Saying you want to reduce deficits to 3% of GDP is a lot easier than actually doing it. We’ll need to follow the talk with action – including real measures to lower health care costs, secure the trust funds, cap and reduce spending, and raise new revenue.

But the first step to achieving a fiscal goal is setting one. Just agreeing on the 3% target represents significant movement toward fiscal sanity.

Relevant press releases, blog posts, and other resources:

  • CRFB Blog: Lawmakers Introduce a Bipartisan Resolution in Support of a 3% Deficit-to-GDP Target
  • CRFB Blog: Senators Introduce 3% Fiscal Target Resolution
  • CRFB Blog: Broad, Bipartisan Support for a 3% Deficit Target
  • CRFB Press Release: CRFB Applauds Introduction of 3% Deficit Target Resolution
  • CRFB Press Release: CRFB Applauds Senate Introduction of 3% Fiscal Goal
  • CRFB Open Letter: Getting to 3%: An Open Letter to Lawmakers
  • Rep. Huizenga Press Release: The 3% Resolution: Huizenga, Peters, Smucker, Quigley Introduce Bipartisan Budget Deficit Reduction Measure
  • Rep. Peters Press Release: Committee Applauds Introduction of 3% Deficit Target Resolution
  • Sen. Cramer Press Release: Cramer, King Take Action to Address Federal Debt, Introduce 3% Resolution
  • Sen. King Press Release: King, Cramer Take Action to Reduce Federal Budget Deficit, Avoid Passing Down Debt to Next Generation
  • Sen. Peters Press Release: Peters Takes Bipartisan Action to Address Growing National Debt
  • House Budget Committee Hearing: The Best Metric to Reverse the Curse: A 3% Deficit-to-GDP Path to Fiscal Sustainability
  • Congress.gov House Version: H.Res.981 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should reduce and maintain the Federal unified budget deficit at or below 3 percent of gross domestic product
  • Congree.gov Senate Version: S.Res.654 - A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should reduce and maintain the Federal unified budget deficit at or below 3 percent of gross domestic product

Fiscal Contingency Preparedness Act (FCPA)

Summary:

The House and Senate versions of this bill would mandate that the Secretary of the Treasury work with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to complete annual assessments of the government’s fiscal strength if faced with various emergencies at home or abroad. Specifically, these assessments would examine how the federal government might respond to potential fiscal emergencies such as an economic downturn, energy shortages or shocks, significant natural disasters, a pandemic or other public health emergency, foreign military entanglement, cyber warfare, or a financial crisis.

Following the release of this assessment, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would then perform its own review of Treasury and OMB’s analysis. GAO would publish this review on its website for the public and transmit it to Congress, which the agency also does with the Treasury’s yearly Financial Report of the United States Government.

Background:

The 2008 financial crisis exposed major weaknesses in the global banking system. In response, Congress passed a series of laws requiring globally systemic banks to undergo regular stress tests, hypothetical scenarios designed to determine whether a bank has enough reserves to withstand a negative economic shock. Such evaluations ensure that banks can stay financially stable during crises.

The FCPA, modeled after the RESILIENCE Act from the 118th Congress, would apply a similar framework to the federal government. The legislation requires the Treasury Department and OMB to conduct regular “fiscal stress tests” to assess the federal government's fiscal resilience to potential emergencies such as economic downturns, energy crises, and national security threats.

Recent emergencies such as the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic added several trillion dollars to the national debt through automatic changes, new legislation, and executive actions. With debt headed toward record highs, trust funds approaching insolvency, and interest costs consuming a larger portion of our budget, regular fiscal assessments are one way for policymakers to have a greater understanding of the current fiscal trajectory.

Status:

The FCPA was introduced in the House on July 23, 2025, where it was referred to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and introduced in the Senate on July 29, 2025, where it was referred to the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee successfully passed the bill out of committee by a vote of 39 to 1 on March 18, 2026. The proposal awaits consideration before the House of Representatives.

Sponsors:

House: Representatives Jared Golden (D-ME) and Ben Cline (R-VA) – full list of cosponsors here

Senate: Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN) – full list of cosponsors here

CRFB statement:

On July 24, 2025, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas issued the following statement: 

Policymakers and the public need access to the best available analysis on how a severe economic shock may impact the federal government's finances. While our nation’s largest banks are required to undergo regular stress tests to prepare for an unexpected shock, the federal government lacks an equivalent playbook. It is essential that the federal government be prepared for a possible fiscal emergency, and we commend Senators Warner and Young and Representatives Cline and Golden for introducing this bipartisan, commonsense proposal to strengthen our fiscal resilience. 

Relevant press releases, blog posts, and other resources:

Note: Some portions of this blog were repurposed and reused from previous CRFB blogs and analyses.

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