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S. 181 119th Congress Senate

A bill to require agencies submit zero-based budgets.

Introduced: January 22, 2025 Introduced by: James E. Risch Republican · Idaho See on congress.gov
Economics and Public Finance AppropriationsBudget deficits and national debtBudget processCongressional oversightExecutive agency funding and structure
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 22, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Jan 22, 2025
Introduced in Senate
 Votes taken on this bill 2
DateChamberWhat was voted onResultYes–No
Jan 22, 2009 Senate · vote #14 On Passage of the Bill S. 181 Passed 61–36 See who voted →
Jan 15, 2009 Senate · vote #4 On the Cloture Motion S. 181 Agreed To 72–23 See who voted →
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What's happening now January 22, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

This bill requires federal agencies to submit zero-based budgets to the Office of Management and Budget and the congressional budget committees. Under the bill, a zero-based budget is a systematic budget analysis in which managers (1) examine current objectives, operations, and costs; (2) consider alternative ways of carrying out programs or activities; and (3) rank different programs or activities by order of importance.

The bill also requires federal agencies to submit recommendations to reduce spending by at least 2% from the previous year's levels. The Department of Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration are exempt from this requirement.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 7

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 181: A bill to require agencies submit zero-based budgets.. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-181/
MLA
"S. 181: A bill to require agencies submit zero-based budgets.." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-181/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 181, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-181/.
Markdown link
[S. 181: A bill to require agencies submit zero-based budgets.](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-181/)
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