A concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2027 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2028 through 2036.

A budget blueprint, not a law — it aims to end yearly deficits by 2031 through $16.5 trillion in cuts it doesn't name.

More about this bill

Most people would notice no direct change from this plan. A budget resolution is Congress setting spending targets for itself. It never goes to the President, and it changes no law. By itself it cannot raise a tax, cut a benefit, or change a program rule. Its main goal is to end the yearly deficit by 2031, not counting Social Security. Tax revenue is assumed to change by $0 in every year. So the whole gap would have to close through lower spending. The plan's own numbers show $5.84 trillion in spending for 2027 against $4.48 trillion in revenue. That is a deficit of $1.36 trillion. Spending would then fall to $5.23 trillion by 2031, about 10% less in dollars. Revenue would rise about 17% in those years, to the same $5.23 trillion. From 2031 through 2036, spending and revenue match exactly each year. Most of the savings sit in one line that names no program. It books about $16.5 trillion in cuts over ten years. The text does not say which programs would shrink. Some targets still rise. Medicare grows from $1.15 trillion to $1.98 trillion a year. Defense grows from $979 billion to $1.15 trillion. Interest on the debt is set at $1.17 trillion for 2027, more than defense. Social Security is kept out of the deficit count, as the budget law requires. Its spending tops its own tax income every year, by $210 billion in 2027 and $599 billion in 2036. So total federal debt keeps rising, from $41.0 trillion to $47.1 trillion. No committee is told to write a follow-up bill that changes taxes or programs. Instead, the plan sets spending limits that later bills must fit. A bill that breaks them could be blocked by an objection on the floor (a point of order). Each chamber's budget committee chair would judge, from his or her own estimates, whether a bill fits. The chairs could also reset the limits when budget forecasts change. In the House, spending labeled an emergency would not count against the limits. The House budget chair could also raise limits for five uses, such as disaster relief and wildfire fighting. Office costs of Social Security and the Postal Service would count inside the yearly spending limits. Benefits themselves are not touched.