June 17, 2025

Senator Marshall Introduces Comprehensive Bill to Reform America’s Dysfunctional Budget Process

Washington – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) today introduced the Budget Reform Act of 2025, legislation that will reform the federal budgeting process, making it more transparent, effective, and efficient.

“With the U.S. national debt exceeding $36 trillion, it’s clear that the federal budgeting process is a dysfunctional mess. Congress continues to lurch from crisis to crisis without any long-term vision or accountability. Rather than continue to repeat the same missteps that have burdened us and our grandchildren with debt they can never repay, we need radical change,” said Senator Marshall. “My Budget Reform Act provides the framework for returning America to sound fiscal footing. These fundamental changes will hold the President, Congress, and federal agencies accountable, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent appropriately and transparently. However, if this carrot approach doesn’t work, my bill provides penalties for all budgetary actors to ensure their compliance. At a minimum, this is what the American people deserve. It’s beyond time for a fix; it’s time for the Budget Reform Act of 2025.”

Key reforms include:

Transparency from the CBO: Requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to publish its fiscal models and methodology, allowing public scrutiny and a better understanding of budget forecasts.
Zero-Based Budgeting: Mandates that every federal program, exempting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, be justified from scratch for each new budget period, rather than using prior year funding as a baseline.
Biennial Budgeting: Moves from annual to two-year budget cycles, giving agencies, states, and local governments greater predictability and reducing short-term political disruptions.
Stronger Budget Enforcement: Reinforces points of order in Congress to ensure adherence to the proper budgetary process.
Revised CBO Baselines: Adjusts the way the CBO calculates budget baselines to remove bias toward automatic spending increases.
Enforced Deadlines: Establishes strict budget deadlines for Congress and the President, with penalties for non-compliance to encourage timely fiscal action.

Budget Timetable Reforms:

Congress currently follows an annual budgeting process, which has become increasingly chaotic, wasteful, and detrimental. Senator Marshall’s proposal calls for Congress to adopt a biennial budgeting process, which is more stable, leads to fewer crises, and provides better oversight to the taxpayer.
- The proposal would make biennial budgeting effective on January 1, 2027, applying to the budgetary process beginning with fiscal year 2028.

Background:

Since 1977, Congress has only completed the Federal appropriations process on time by passing all 12 appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year four times.
- The last time Congress passed all 12 appropriations bills on time was FY 1997.
This dysfunction has led to increased deficits, financed in part by monetizing the debt.
America is over $36 trillion in debt, and in 2024, the American taxpayer spent over one trillion dollars in interest servicing this debt.

The full text of the legislation can be found here.

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*Current Timeline*	*Senator Marshall’s Proposed Biennial Timeline*	*Senator Marshall’s Proposed Biennial Timeline for Presidential Transition Years*
First Monday in February: President submits budget.	On or before the first day of session: President submits budget.	First Monday in February: President submits budget.
February 15: CBO submits report to Budget Committees.	One week after the President’s budget recommendations: CBO submits report to Budget Committees.	February 15: CBO submits report to Budget Committees.
Not later than 6 weeks after President submits budget: Committees submit vies and estimates to Budget Committee.	February 1: Committees submit views and estimates to Budget Committees.	March 15: Committees submit views and estimates to Budget Committee.
April 1: Senate Budget Committee reports concurrent resolution on the budget.	February 15: Senate Budget Committee reports concurrent resolution on the biennial budget.	April 1: Senate Budget Committee reports concurrent resolution on the biennial budget.
April 15: Congress completes action on concurrent resolution.	March 15: Congress completes action on concurrent biennial resolution.	April 15: Congress completes action on concurrent biennial resolution.
May 15: Annual appropriations bills may be considered in the House.	March 16: Biennial appropriations bills may be considered in the House.	April 16: Biennial appropriations bills may be considered in the House.
June 10: House Appropriations Committee reports last annual appropriation bill.	April 10: House Appropriations Committee reports last biennial appropriation bill.	May 10: House Appropriations Committee reports last biennial appropriation bill.
June 15: Congress completes action on reconciliation legislation (if required by the budget resolution)	April 30: House of Representatives completes action on biennial appropriation bills.	May 30: House of Representatives completes action on biennial appropriation bills.
June 30: House completes action on annual appropriations bills	June 1: Senate completes action on biennial appropriations bills.	July 1: Senate completes action on biennial appropriations bills.
October 1: Fiscal year begins	October 1: Biennium begins	October 1: Fiscal year begins
	*Second Session*	*Second Session*
	On or before the first day of session: President submits budget review.	On or before the first day of session: President submits budget review.
	One week after the President’s budget review: CBO submits report to Budget Committees.	One week after the President’s budget review: CBO submits report to Budget Committees.
	June 1: Congress completes action on bills and resolutions authorizing new budget authority for the succeeding biennium.	June 1: Congress completes action on bills and resolutions authorizing new budget authority for the succeeding biennium.