27 Aug 2026 Fiscally Responsible Rules Recommendations for the 120th Congress in Economics and Finance

An important part of making the budget more sustainable is changing the way Congress considers and evaluates budgetary legislation. BPC Action has endorsed bills that would codify budget process changes in law, but another—albeit temporary—way of improving the budget process is by reflecting fiscal responsibility in the package of rules that the House of Representatives must pass at the beginning of each Congress. 

BPC Action offers the following recommendations for consideration, which would help Congress better serve Americans, rein in ballooning deficits, and pave the way for economic security. 

Four Ideas to Control Spending and Get the Budget in Check 

Budget gimmicks are driving up the debt and making life more expensive for the average American. Congress should return to responsible budgeting, which requires tough leadership that cannot wait as the debt continues to grow.  

Taken together, these budget-specific recommendations would: 

• Restore Congress’s institutional authority over budgeting and appropriations, strengthening long-term budgeting and fiscal credibility. 

• Close procedural loopholes that have enabled repeated debt expansion through single-party legislation. 

• Channel tax and spending debates back toward more durable, transparent, pro-growth, and fiscally responsible policymaking. 

1. Conrad Rule: Close the Reconciliation Deficit Loophole 

Senate Rules prevent reconciliation bills from increasing deficits outside the 10-year window. In practice, however, Congress has used reconciliation to enact massive deficit increases within the window itself, two recent examples being the American Rescue Plan and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

The House could adopt a rule—sometimes referred to as the Conrad Rule, named for former Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)—prohibiting consideration of reconciliation bills that increase deficits in any year. 

2. Keep Congressional Control Over Discretionary Spending  

Reconciliation bills during both the Biden and Trump administrations have used reconciliation to fund programs that are traditionally funded through annual appropriations, shifting whole agencies or programs from discretionary to mandatory spending and cutting Congress out of the oversight that comes with regular order. 

Because the Byrd Rule prevents Congress from including language that is not primarily budgetary, these laws relinquish a considerable amount of congressional control over agencies and programs. Allowing discretionary funding to migrate into reconciliation also further erodes the appropriations process. The House could establish points of order against the inclusion of funding for accounts traditionally funded through annual appropriations. This would force both parties to come to the table to fund discretionary programs and ensure Congress doesn’t give up control in directing how programs are operated. 

3. Ensure Baselines Reflect the True Cost of Tax and Spending Decisions 

Some scoring practices can make proposed budget legislation appear less expensive than it is, or not costly at all. For example, treating expiring tax or spending provisions as permanent hides the long-term cost of extending them. Similarly, projecting one-time emergency or supplemental appropriations forward and assuming they grow with inflation swells the spending base and makes proposed increases appear comparatively modest. 

Both practices make deficit expansion easier. For the estimates and baseline it uses to enforce budgetary points of order, the House could direct the Budget Committee to reflect current law for expiring provisions and to exclude emergency-designated and supplemental appropriations from the projected baseline. 

4. Make PAYGO Votes Count 

Congress waives statutory PAYGO at year’s end, buried in large packages, with almost no accountability. If Congress is going to waive it, it should do so in the open through standalone recorded votes on scorecard waivers above a set dollar threshold—$1 billion, for example—with a minimum public disclosure period before consideration. 

BPC Action is here to support Congress as policymakers and staff think creatively to improve Congress. Please contact Hello@BPCAction.org if you’d like to learn more or are interested in partnering with us.