Budget Control Act of 2011

The Budget Control Act of 2011 is a federal statute enacted by the 112th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Barack Obama on August 2, 2011. The Act brought conclusion to the 2011 US debt-ceiling crisis. The law involves the introduction of several complex mechanisms, such as creation of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (sometimes called the "super committee"), options for a balanced budget amendment, and automatic budget sequestration. Provisions Debt ceiling: The debt ceiling was increased by $400 billion immediately. The President could request a further increase of $500 billion, which is subject to a congressional motion of disapproval which the President may veto, in which case a two-thirds majority in Congress would be needed to override the veto. This has been called the 'McConnell mechanism' after the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who first suggested it as part of another scheme. The President could request a final increase of $1.2–1.5 trillion, subject to the same disapproval procedure. The exact amount depends on the amount of cuts in the "super committee" plan if it passes Congress, and whether a Balanced budget amendment has been sent to the states. Deficit reduction: Spending was reduced more than the increase in the debt limit. No tax increases or other forms of increases in revenue above current law were included in the bill. The bill directly specified $917 billion of cuts over 10 years in exchange for the initial debt limit increase of $900 billion. This is the first installment ("tranche") of cuts. $21 billion of this will be applied in the FY2012 budget. Additionally, the agreement established the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, sometimes called the "super committee", to produce deficit reduction legislation by November 23, 2011, that would be immune from amendments or filibuster (similar to the Base Realignment and Closure). The goal of the legislation was to cut at least $1.5 trillion over the coming 10 years and be passed by December 23, 2011. Projected revenue from the committee's legislation could not exceed the revenue budgeting baseline produced by current law. (Current law had the Bush tax cuts expiring at the end of 2012.) The committee would have 12 members, 6 from each party. The agreement also specified an incentive for Congress to act.