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To ensure the payment of interest and principal of the debt of the United States.
Summary
This bill establishes a priority system for Treasury payments if the federal debt ceiling is reached and cannot be raised. When the debt limit is hit, the Treasury Secretary must prioritize paying interest and principal on the national debt, including Social Security and Medicare payments, before any other obligations. The bill establishes declining priority levels for Defense Department obligations, other government obligations, federal employee travel and certain executive branch compensation, and finally congressional compensation. The Treasury Secretary would only pay lower-priority obligations if there is sufficient revenue after paying all higher-priority obligations. The Secretary must submit weekly reports to Congress detailing the amounts of each obligation tier that were paid and remain unpaid.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Tom Mcclintock’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- SOVEREIGN NATION $21,650
- NOT PROVIDED $14,100
- TECHNICAL MAINTENANCE SUPPORT, INC. $10,700
- NULL $10,350
- CEN-CAL FIRE SYSTEMS, INC. $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Tom Mcclintock → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2025
Mr. McClintock introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To ensure the payment of interest and principal of the debt of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Default Prevention Act”.
SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF OBLIGATIONS.
(a) In General.—At any time that the debt of the United States Government subject to limitation under section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, has reached the limitation imposed under such section, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this section referred to as “the Secretary”) shall—
(1) pay Tier I obligations as such obligations become due,
(2) issue such obligations under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, as—
(A) are necessary to make the payments described in paragraph (1), or
(B) are to be held exclusively by a trust fund referred to in subsection (b)(1)(A),
(3) pay Tier III obligations only to the extent that the Secretary can still pay all Tier II obligations as such obligations become due,
(4) pay Tier IV obligations only to the extent that the Secretary can still pay all Tier II and Tier III obligations as such obligations become due,
(5) pay Tier V obligations only to the extent that the Secretary can still pay all Tier II, Tier III, and Tier IV obligations as such obligations become due, and
(6) submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a weekly written report containing the information described in subsection (d).
(b) Definitions.—For purposes of this section—
(1) Tier i obligations.—The term “Tier I obligations” means payments necessary to provide any of the following:
(A) Payment with legal tender pursuant to the authority provided under section 3123 of title 31, United States Code, of principal and interest on debt held by—
(i) the public,
(ii) the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, or
(iii) the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.
(B) Payments under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.).
(2) Tier ii obligations.—The term “Tier II obligations” means payments necessary to provide any of the following:
(A) Any obligation of the Department of Defense.
(B) Benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(3) Tier iii obligations.—The term “Tier III obligations” means any obligation of the United States which is not a Tier I, Tier II, Tier IV, or Tier V obligation.
(4) Tier iv obligations.—The term “Tier IV obligations” means any payment which constitutes any of the following:
(A) Compensation for any Federal employee for official time under section 7131 of such title 5, United States Code.
(B) Any payment for travel expenses for any officer or employee of the Executive branch of Government, including the President and Vice President, unless such payment is a Tier I or Tier II obligation.
(C) Compensation of any officer or employee of the Executive branch of Government (other than an individual in the competitive service, as defined in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code), including the President and Vice President, unless such compensation is a Tier I or Tier II obligation.
(5) Tier v obligations.—The term “Tier V obligations” means compensation of any Member of Congress (as that term is defined in section 2106 of title 5, United States Code).
(c) Coordination With Public Debt Limit.—Obligations issued under subsection (a)(2) shall not be taken into account as subject to the limitation imposed under section 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code. The preceding sentence shall not apply with respect to any obligation after the first date (after the issuance of such obligation) on which any modification or suspension of such limitation takes effect.
(d) Weekly Reports.—The written report referred to in subsection
(a)(6) shall include, with respect to the period covered by such report—
(1) the amount of Tier I obligations paid under subsection
(a)(1) during such period,
(2) the amount of obligations issued under subsection
(a)(2) during such period, and
(3) the amount of Tier II obligations, Tier III obligations, Tier IV obligations, and Tier V obligations which were paid during such period (stated separately for each tier) and the aggregate amount of such obligations which were due and unpaid as of the close of such period (stated separately for each tier).
(e) No Inference With Respect to Existing Authority to Prioritize Payments.—During any period with respect to which this section does not apply, nothing in this section shall be interpreted to restrict the authority of the Secretary to prioritize the payment of certain obligations over other obligations. <all>
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