June 6, 2023
On Saturday, June 3, 2023, President Biden signed H.R.3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, into law, raising the debt ceiling until 2025, avoiding national default until at least after the next presidential election, and adjusting the federal budget.
The legislation keeps non-defense discretionary spending for FY2024 at roughly the same level as FY2023, and caps growth of non-defense discretionary spending in the FY2025 budget at 1%. The legislation includes an increase of $866 billion for military spending, an approximate increase of 3%.
The legislation expands work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility from those 18 to 49 years old, to individuals 18 to 53 years old. The expansion from age 49 to age 53 is will take place over three years, and will expire in 2030, at which point the work requirement age will drop back down to 49, should new legislation addressing the issue not be signed into law. However, the legislation includes first-of-their-kind exemptions from work requirements for homeless individuals, veterans, and some former foster youth.
Medicaid and Social Security benefits will not be affected by this legislation.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that during the 2025-2030 period, when the work requirements will have fully expanded to those 18 to 54 years of age, because of the three exemption categories, an average of 78,000 people per month would gain benefits.
The legislation reduces state grants for direct cash assistance to families in poverty through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and rescinds about $27 billion in unspent COVID-19 aid. Unspent COVID funds that had been allocated to aid public health, infrastructure, and disaster relief programs would be reallocated for non-defense discretionary spending.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 would reduce federal budget deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
President Biden delivered remarks on the bipartisan budget agreement on Saturday, which can be watched here.
Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted a number of initiatives protected under this legislation on Twitter, saying, "Our administration has passed historic legislation to lower health care costs, revive American manufacturing, create a clean energy economy, and rebuild our nation's infrastructure. The bipartisan budget agreement protects this critical progress.
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