Bill > HRes11

This Resolution amends the Rules of the House of Representatives by reinstating the "Gephardt rule," which had been repealed in 2011. The Gephardt rule establishes a procedure where, upon Congress adopting a budget resolution that sets a public debt limit different from the current one, a joint resolution to change that limit is automatically prepared and sent to the Senate. Crucially, this process means the House avoids a separate vote on the debt limit itself, as the vote on the budget resolution is considered to also be a vote on the debt limit increase or decrease. The rule also requires budget reports to clearly state the impact of such a debt limit change and ensures that this new procedure does not prevent other ways of addressing the public debt limit. The "public debt" refers to the maximum amount of money the U.S. government can borrow.