Cyclopedia

Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was established in the  Budget Control Act of 2011 (Pub. L. 112-25) on August 2, 2011.

See the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction entry in the §026. Joint Committees of Congress section of the BCR.

The committee’s purpose was to write legislation that would decrease the deficit by enough to offset the increase in the debt limit required at the time of its creation. The committee bill was given expedited procedures to provide for a vote by the Congress, without amendment. The BCA target was to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the 10 years and hence avoid sequestration procedures that would be triggered if the target was not met.

The committee finalized its operations on November 21, 2011 without being able to produce a bill that could be supported by a majority of its members. The committee issued the following statement:  “After months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline.” 

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