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House Rule XXVIII
[PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT]
[§1104. Public debt limit.]
1. Upon adoption by the House of a concurrent resolution on the budget under section 301[2] or 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Clerk shall prepare an engrossment of a joint resolution suspending the statutory limit on the public debt in the form prescribed in clause 2. Upon engrossment of the joint resolution, the vote by which the concurrent resolution on the budget was adopted by the House shall also be considered as a vote on passage of the joint resolution in the House, and the joint resolution shall be considered as passed by the House and duly certified and examined. The engrossed copy shall be signed by the Clerk and transmitted to the Senate for further legislative action.
2. The matter after the resolving clause in a joint resolution described in clause 1 shall be as follows: “Section 3101(b)[2] of title 31, United States Code, shall not apply for the period beginning on the date of enactment and ending on September 30, _____.” with the blank being filled with the budget year for the concurrent resolution.
3. Nothing in this rule shall be construed as limiting or otherwise affecting—
(a) the power of the House or the Senate to consider and pass bills or joint resolutions, without regard to the procedures under clause 1, that would change the statutory limit on the public debt; or
(b) the rights of Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, or committees with respect to the introduction, consideration, and reporting of such bills or joint resolutions.
4. In this rule the term “statutory limit on the public debt’ means the maximum face amount of obligations issued under authority of chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and obligations guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States (except such guaranteed obligations as may be held by the Secretary of the Treasury), as determined under section 3101(b) of such title after the application of section 3101(a) of such title, that may be outstanding at any one time.
[1] When a form of this rule was in effect prior to its repeal in the 112th Congress, it required the House adoption of a conference report on a concurrent resolution on the budget, or as an amendment between the Houses, to generate a joint resolution increasing the public debt.
[2] Section 3101(b) of title 31 sets the amount by which the Federal public debt is limited. The number was last reset by the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-139), but its application has been suspended periodically since that time. The original form of this rule provided for an increase in the amount rather than its suspension.
Counsel Notes on House Rule XXVIII
History of House Rule XXVIII
The original version of this rule was added in the 96th Congress by the enactment of Public Law 96-78, an Act increasing the public debt limit and “to make possible the establishment of the public debt limit in the future as a part of the congressional budget process.” It was originally applicable to concurrent resolutions on the budget for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 1980 (fiscal year 1981). Since then, the rule has been amended several times, notably by H. Res. 241 (98th Congress). Enacted on June 23, 1983, this resolution amended the rule to make it consistent with a then recent change to the permanent statutory limit. Public Law 98-34 had amended 31 U.S.C. 3101(b) to raise the debt limit to the actual amount required rather than altering it using temporary increases, which expired on the last day of the fiscal year. It is notable since the currently reestablished Gephardt Rule is similar to this discarded practice of “temporary” increases in the debt limit.
The Gephardt Rule was formerly rule XLIX but was redesignated as rule XXIII when the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress (H. Res. 5 adopted on January 6, 1999). It was repealed on January 3, 2001 by H. Res. 5 (107th Congress), reinstated as rule XVII by H. Res. 5 (108th Congress) on January 7, 2003 and redesignated in the 110th Congress as rule XXVIII by Pub. L. 110-81.
When in applicable to final adoption of the budget resolution, it was triggered on the date of final House action in adopting the conference report on budget resolution, rather than the date of final Senate action, when later.
Clause 1 of House Rule XXVIII (111th Congress)
Clause 1 of House Rule XXVIII from the 111th Congress, prior to its repeal in the 112th Congress, read as follows:
1. Upon adoption by Congress of a concurrent resolution on the budget under section 301 or 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that sets forth, as the appropriate level of the public debt for the period to which the concurrent resolution relates, an amount that is different from the amount of the statutory limit on the public debt that otherwise would be in effect for that period, the Clerk shall prepare an engrossment of a joint resolution increasing or decreasing, as the case may be, the statutory limit on the public debt in the form prescribed in clause 2. Upon engrossment of the joint resolution, the vote by which the concurrent resolution on the budget was finally agreed to in the House shall also be considered as a vote on passage of the joint resolution in the House, and the joint resolution shall be considered as passed by the House and duly certified and examined. The engrossed copy shall be signed by the Clerk and transmitted to the Senate for further legislative action.
§1104. Former rule on public debt limit.
The rule “Statutory Limit on Public Debt” was repealed in the 112th Congress (sec. 2(d)(2), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. 80). For its text and history, see §1104 of the House Rules and Manual for the 111th Congress (H. Doc. 110–162).
See also the “Gephardt Rule“, which is the colloquial term for this public debt procedure.
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[BCR § 378]
Budget Counsel 