Budget Process Enhancement and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2025

This Act establishes procedural rules for the consideration of federal spending and tax legislation. It requires that any bill authorizing new spending or tax expenditures be accompanied by a dynamic scoring analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, projecting the legislation's impact on economic growth, national debt, and private-sector employment. Any new spending program created by law must include a sunset provision requiring reauthorization within five years, unless a two-thirds majority of both chambers votes to extend it. In the Senate, any bill that would increase the federal deficit by more than 0.5% of gross domestic product over a ten-year period shall require a three-fifths supermajority for passage. Each appropriation bill must include a statement of constitutional authority, citing the specific clause under which the expenditure is made. Finally, for any federal grant program that provides funds to states, the Act allows states to opt out of participation and instead receive a block grant of equivalent value, provided they can demonstrate that the state's own program achieves the same or better outcomes. The Act applies only to Congress as a body and does not impose mandates on private individuals or state governments.

This proposal stays within Article I, Section 5, Clause 2, which grants each House the power to determine the rules of its proceedings. The dynamic scoring, supermajority, and sunset requirements are internal procedural rules that do not bind future Congresses irrevocably, as any Congress may change its rules by majority vote. The constitutional authority statement is a simple informational requirement that does not restrict any substantive power. The state opt-out provision respects federalism principles under the Tenth Amendment, as it permits states to choose alternatives to federal programs. The Act does not abridge any right in the Bill of Rights or the Fourteenth Amendment, nor does it place any burden on individuals—it only imposes procedural discipline on the federal government. Due process concerns are not triggered because the Act does not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property; it merely regulates how Congress considers spending bills.