About the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

President Obama created the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to address our nation's fiscal challenges. The Commission is charged with identifying policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run. Specifically, the Commission shall propose recommendations designed to balance the budget, excluding interest payments on the debt, by 2015. In addition, the Commission shall propose recommendations that meaningfully improve the long-run fiscal outlook, including changes to address the growth of entitlement spending and the gap between the projected revenues and expenditures of the Federal Government.

The Commission will meet as a whole once a month while Congress is in session. The Commission will vote on a final report containing a set of recommendations to achieve its mission no later than December 1, 2010. The final report will require the approval of at least 14 of the Commission's 18 members.

View the President’s Executive Order establishing the Commission.

Working Groups

Discretionary Working Group

The Discretionary Working Group will research and discuss issues related to discretionary spending.

Discussion leaders:
Rep. Spratt and Sen. Coburn
Members:
Sen. Coburn
Dave Cote
Sen. Durbin
Ann Fudge
Rep. Hensarling
Alice Rivlin
Rep. Ryan
Rep. Schakowsky
Rep. Spratt

Mandatory Working Group

The Mandatory Working Group will research and discuss issues related to mandatory spending.

Discussion leaders:
Alice Rivlin and Sen. Gregg (on Social Security) or Rep. Ryan (on other mandatory issues)
Members:
Sen. Baucus
Rep. Becerra
Rep. Camp
Sen. Coburn
Sen. Conrad
Sen. Crapo
Sen. Gregg
Rep. Hensarling
Alice Rivlin
Rep. Ryan
Rep. Schakowsky
Rep. Spratt
Andy Stern

Tax Reform Working Group

The Tax Reform Working Group will research and discuss issues related to tax reform.

Discussion Leaders:
Rep. Camp and Sen. Conrad
Members:
Sen. Baucus
Rep. Becerra
Rep. Camp
Sen. Conrad
Dave Cote
Sen. Crapo
Sen. Durbin
Ann Fudge
Sen. Gregg
Andy Stern

The working groups are operating under 41 CFR 102-3.35(a) which permits subcommittees that do not report directly to a federal agency or official to meet without regard to FACA's open meeting requirements. The working groups will report their findings directly to the Commission at regularly scheduled open meetings of the Commission.