Budget Reform Act of 2025
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill fundamentally restructures the federal budget process by switching from annual to biennial (two-year) budgeting cycles. It requires the President to submit budgets every odd-numbered year for two-year periods, mandates zero-based budget justifications from agencies, and forces CBO to publicly disclose its budget models and data.
Who Benefits and How
Taxpayers benefit from increased transparency in CBO cost estimates and zero-based budgeting reviews. Congress gains more time for oversight in even-numbered years. Budget reformers get stronger enforcement through two-thirds vote requirements to waive budget rules.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal agencies must prepare zero-based budget justifications showing three funding alternatives. CBO must disclose all fiscal models, data, and methodologies publicly. The President faces travel restrictions if the budget is submitted late. Political appointees face travel bans during late budget periods. Members of Congress face travel bans if budget deadlines are missed.
Key Provisions
- Switches to biennial (two-year) budget and appropriations cycles
- Requires zero-based budgeting with three funding alternatives for each agency activity
- Mandates CBO disclose all models, data, and computations used in estimates
- Bans presidential/political appointee travel if budget is late
- Bans congressional travel if budget resolution deadlines are missed
- Raises threshold to waive budget points of order to two-thirds vote
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Reforms the federal budget process by implementing biennial (two-year) budgeting, requiring zero-based budgeting justifications, increasing CBO transparency, and creating consequences for failure to meet budget deadlines.
Key Policy Areas
Budget Process, Federal Spending, Government Accountability, Congressional Procedure
Primary Purpose
Reforms the federal budget process by implementing biennial (two-year) budgeting, requiring zero-based budgeting justifications, increasing CBO transparency, and creating consequences for failure to meet budget deadlines.
Policy Domains
Title I - CBO Transparency
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Budget analysts and researchers
- Members of Congress
- Taxpayers
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Congressional Budget Office
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Title V - Baseline Changes
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Fiscal conservatives (lower baseline growth)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal programs dependent on inflation-adjusted baselines
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Title II - Zero-Based Budgeting
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Taxpayers (more efficient government spending)
- Budget oversight committees
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal agencies (except Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Title IV - Budget Enforcement
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Fiscal conservatives
- Budget process reformers
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Congressional majorities seeking to bypass budget rules
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Title III - Biennial Budgeting
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Congress (more time for oversight)
- Federal agencies (more planning stability)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- President (travel restrictions)
- Political appointees (travel restrictions)
- Members of Congress (travel restrictions)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Marshall introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Congressional Appropriations Committees, Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Budget Office (baseline calculations)
Positive-direction: Congressional Budget Office (baseline calculations), Congressional budget committees, Federal agencies preparing performance reports, Members of Congress, Senate Budget Committee (exclusive jurisdiction), U.S. Postal Service
Negative-direction: Congressional Appropriations Committees, Congressional Budget Office, Congressional authorizing committees, Congressional committees with authorizing jurisdiction, Congressional leadership (Senate and House), Federal departments and agencies, House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Members of Congress (Senators, Representatives, Delegates), Office of Management and Budget, Political appointees (Executive Schedule, noncareer SES, Schedule C), President of the United States, President of the United States (incentive to submit timely budget), Senate committees attempting to include budget matters in non-budget bills, Senate majorities seeking to bypass budget rules
Federal programs dependent on inflation-adjusted baselines, Programs seeking short-term authorizations
Fiscal conservatives (lower projected spending), Fiscal conservatives and budget hawks
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of the Congressional Budget Office
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The period of 2 consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year
Individuals in Executive Schedule positions, noncareer SES appointees, or Schedule C policy positions
Period beginning after budget submission deadline until budget is submitted
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology