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.