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H.R. 402 119th Congress House

DEBT Act

Official title: To amend title 31, United States Code, to require the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before Congress before the debt limit is reached or extraordinary measures are taken to prevent default.

Introduced: January 14, 2025 Introduced by: David Schweikert Republican · Arizona See on congress.gov
Economics and Public Finance Budget deficits and national debtCongressional oversightCongressional-executive branch relationsDepartment of the Treasury
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House Committee on Ways and MeansSenate Committee on Finance
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 14, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Jan 14, 2025
Introduced in House
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What's happening now January 14, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Debt Explanation Before Taxwriters Act or the DEBT Act

This bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee before the federal debt limit is reached or extraordinary measures are taken to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations.

The term extraordinary measures generally refers to a series of actions that the Department of the Treasury may implement to allow the United States to borrow additional funds without exceeding the debt limit. The measures generally include suspensions or delays of debt sales and suspensions or redemptions of investments in certain government funds.

The bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before the committees to provide a detailed explanation of (1) the extraordinary measures that Treasury will take and the administrative costs of taking the measures, and (2) any reversal of such measures and any other changes in the funding of federal government obligations.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 402: DEBT Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-402/
MLA
"H.R. 402: DEBT Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-402/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 402, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-402/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 402: DEBT Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-402/)
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