SCONRES-39-119
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 551. (text: CR S4577-4583)
Sponsored by Rand Paul (R-KY)
What it does
This concurrent resolution sets non-binding federal spending, revenue, deficit, and debt targets for fiscal years 2027 through 2036, broken down by major budget category such as defense, health, and Social Security. It also issues reconciliation instructions directing specific House and Senate committees to draft legislation that would change deficits by set amounts (mostly increases in various committees, with the Senate Finance Committee instructed to cut the deficit by at least $500 billion), and establishes procedural rules for adjusting these budget levels as legislation moves forward.
Who benefits
Committees and party leadership steering the reconciliation process, since reconciliation bills can pass the Senate with a simple majority and avoid the filibuster; industries and programs favored by committees with room to increase spending (e.g., defense, veterans' benefits); and any group that benefits from the tax or spending changes the eventual reconciliation bill produces, which cannot be identified yet since this resolution sets only targets, not policy.
Who is hurt
Programs or sectors falling under committees instructed to find savings, particularly whatever falls within the Senate Finance Committee's jurisdiction (taxes, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security-adjacent provisions) given its $500 billion deficit-reduction target; taxpayers and future generations who bear the projected $1.3-1.6 trillion annual deficits and a public debt that would rise from about $41 trillion to nearly $59 trillion by 2036; and the minority party in both chambers, whose ability to block the eventual reconciliation bill via filibuster would be eliminated.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that adopting a budget resolution is a necessary first step to enact fiscal priorities through reconciliation, allowing a simple Senate majority to pass tax and spending changes without a 60-vote threshold that would otherwise let a minority block action. They contend the resolution's targets, including the $500 billion deficit-reduction instruction to the Finance Committee, demonstrate an effort to balance new spending against fiscal discipline over the ten-year window.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the resolution locks in deficits exceeding $1.3 trillion annually and nearly $59 trillion in public debt by 2036, representing a failure to address the nation's long-term fiscal trajectory. They contend that using reconciliation to bypass the filibuster concentrates power in the majority party and allows sweeping policy changes on taxes and entitlements without the deliberation that ordinary legislation requires.
Constitutional context
Congress's power to set spending and revenue levels stems directly from the Appropriations Clause (Art. I, §9, cl. 7) and the taxing power (Art. I, §8, cl. 1); budget resolutions are internal congressional procedural instruments governed by each chamber's rulemaking authority under Article I, Section 5, and this resolution raises no separation-of-powers or judicially cognizable constitutional question because it does not itself enact binding law.
Checks and balances
Congress retains full control over spending and revenue levels through this resolution and the reconciliation process it authorizes, with no direct role for the executive or judicial branches at this stage, though any resulting reconciliation bill would still require the President's signature or a veto override.
Historical precedent
Congress has used budget resolutions and reconciliation instructions annually or periodically since the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to pass major fiscal packages, including the 2017 tax law and the 2021 American Rescue Plan, with a simple majority in the Senate.