(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Glenn Grothman (WI-06) has reintroduced the Enforce the Caps Act, which extends critical federal spending caps through Fiscal Year (FY) 2029. The legislation builds on the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, which currently enforces spending caps only through FY 2025.
“Americans are fed up with the reckless spending in Washington that continues to fuel our growing debt crisis,” said Grothman.“Congress already reached a bipartisan agreement on commonsense spending caps through FY25, and this legislation simply extends those enforcement tools through FY29, adding essential guardrails to protect taxpayers from runaway deficits.
“While the Fiscal Responsibility Act was a step forward, more action is needed to get Washington’s fiscal house in order. The Enforce the Caps Act strengthens our commitment to reducing the deficit and curbing inflation. This is about securing our nation’s economic future for future generations.”
“Congress needs automatic enforcement to make spending limits real. Rep. Grothman’s proposal to add sequester backing to appropriations caps for four more years makes good sense. As Congress continues with the unfinished business of ending excessive spending and debt, this legislation deserves members’ support,” said Kurt Couchman, Senior Fellow in Fiscal Policy with Americans for Prosperity.
“While the Fiscal Responsibility Act accomplished a $1.5 trillion reduction (CBO) in spending through, primarily, its FY2024 and FY2025 spending caps, President Biden and Senate Democrats would not allow enforceable spending limits in Fiscal Years 2026 through 2029. This leaves the nation’s fiscal stability vulnerable to whoever holds power during these years. Thankfully, Representative Glenn Grothman has introduced the Enforce the Caps Act, which would make these spending caps enforceable through sequestration. This law would decrease planned spending by an additional $553 billion. Rep. Grothman’s bill is a crucial next step towards fiscal sanity, providing a more stable economy for Americans and protecting future taxpayers. ATR urges all lawmakers to support this important legislation,” said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.
“The Enforce the Caps Act is a vital step toward restoring fiscal discipline in Washington. This commonsense legislation would finally hold Congress accountable to the discretionary spending limits it has repeatedly agreed to but consistently ignored. JCN polling finds balancing the budget is one of the biggest priorities of American small businesses, and the Enforce the Caps Act would help rein in the reckless spending that is 100% responsible for America’s deficit crisis. It’s about time that Washington played by the same rules every Main Street entrepreneur does—living within a budget,” said Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of Job Creators Network.
“National Taxpayers Union is pleased to once again support the Enforce the Caps Act, which would make discretionary spending limits established in the Fiscal Responsibility Act enforceable through sequestration in future years. Enforcing these limits would promote greater budget discipline and help reduce annual deficit spending,” said Brandon Arnold, Executive Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union.
“The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is proud to endorse the Enforce the Caps Act, reintroduced by Rep. Grothman. Following the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which set discretionary spending caps for FY24–FY29, this legislation would reduce federal outlays by $553 billion from FY26 to FY33 by ensuring those caps are enforced through sequestration. TPA strongly supports this measure, which reins in Washington’s reckless spending and safeguards taxpayers’ hard earned dollars,” said David Williams, President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
“Rep. Glenn Grothman’s Enforce the Caps Act takes a much-needed step toward restoring fiscal discipline. With binding spending caps set to expire after FY 2025, Congress should prevent a surge in discretionary spending that could fuel inflation and deepen the U.S. debt crisis. Locking in previously agreed upon spending caps—with a real enforcement mechanism—will help focus taxpayer dollars on core government priorities by forcing tradeoff considerations, and helping Congress do what every family must do: budget within limited means,” said Romina Boccia and Dominik Lett from Cato Institute.
“R Street Institute is pleased to support the ‘Enforce the Caps Act.’ Too often, when Congress sets fiscal targets as part of a negotiated deal, critical spending restrictions are postponed for future years and rarely achieved in full. This shortchanges taxpayers and legislators who were promised savings as part of a comprehensive agreement. It also devalues the legislative process by signaling that lawmakers never intended to follow the law, making it harder for legislators to work together in the future and undermining trust in the institution. By enforcing the spending limits in the ‘Fiscal Responsibility Act,’ Congress can at once secure urgently needed savings and boost congressional integrity,” said Nan Swift, Resident Fellow, Governance Project, R Street Institute.
“The Enforce the Caps Act would add real teeth to the Fiscal Responsibility Act beyond 2025, codifying significant deficit reduction in the process. We applaud Representative Grothman for his initiative in introducing this important bill. Although the Fiscal Responsibility Act was the largest and most important deficit reduction bill in over a decade, it does not include a mechanism to truly enforce its savings or discretionary targets beyond 2025. The ECA would extend the statutory caps in place for 2024 and 2025, limiting appropriations growth to 1 percent per year through 2029. Members have already voted for these spending levels as targets under the FRA, so it only makes sense to make them real. In doing so, the Enforce the Caps Act would play a significant role in improving America’s fiscal future,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“The Enforce the Caps Act is a step in the right direction. It strengthens the FRA by making the budget caps from FY 26′ to FY 29′ fully enforceable through sequestration. We applaud Congressman Grothman for reintroducing this commonsense measure to rein in out-of-control spending,” said Jill Homan, Deputy Director for Trade and Economic Policy for the America First Policy Institute.
Background Information
The bipartisan Fiscal Responsibly Act of 2023 placed two years of enforceable discretionary spending caps for FY24 and FY25 and four years of non-enforceable caps for FY26 through FY29. The Enforce the Caps Act protects taxpayers by simply extending the enforcement period to apply to FY26 through FY29.
The Enforce the Caps Act would simply make the FY 26 through FY 29 caps enacted by the Fiscal Responsibility Act enforceable through sequestration.
According to the CBO, full enforcement of these caps would decrease outlays by $553 billion between 2026 and 2033.
This bill is endorsed by Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Job Creators Network, National Taxpayers Union, R Street Institute, America First Policy Institute, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
This bill has three original cosponsors, including Representatives Andy Barr (R-KY), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and David Rouzer (R-NC).
