Concord Action Announces Policy Agenda to Restore Fiscal Responsibility
Bipartisan Fiscal Commission is First Step for Congress to Address $38T Debt
WASHINGTON, D.C. — [October 29, 2025]: With the federal government once again paralyzed by partisanship and fiscal brinkmanship amid the current shutdown, Concord Action is calling on Congress to do its job: pass budgets on time and stop adding to the national debt. Concord Action’s new policy agenda lays out a practical, bipartisan roadmap to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington by strengthening the budget process, establishing a bipartisan Fiscal Commission (with teeth) to enact change, and cutting the deficit to sustainable levels.
“Congress has largely abandoned any semblance of fiscal discipline or regular order around the budget process over the past 25 years. And if we don’t get the situation under control soon, we are all going to pay a terrible price,” said Carolyn Bourdeaux, Executive Director of Concord Action. “It’s time for Congress to do its job and pass budgets on time and with a path to getting the country balanced in the near future.”
At the center of Concord Action’s plan is a call for Congress to take immediate action to cut our staggering national debt in half – from over 6% of GDP to 3% of GDP in five years – and to adopt a path to zero deficit over 10 years. This plan is similar to one proposed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, financier Ray Dalio and other organizations such as the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
For its initial grassroots push, Concord is proposing to pair this “3% of GDP” target with two key bills: the Fiscal Commission Act to stabilize the nation’s debt and No Budget No Pay, legislation to dock legislators’ pay when they fail to meet key fiscal deadlines.
“We see this package as a fiscal stabilization ‘starter pack’ to get the budget process back on track and to set tough but attainable fiscal goals to close the deficit,” said Bourdeaux. “We have to realize that Members of Congress are really struggling with a path to overcome intense polarization and stalemate.”
Concord’s policy slate also includes a number of other important pieces of legislation, including pay as you go reforms, fiscal stress testing, reducing baseline bloat, a balanced budget amendment, and implementation of clear fiscal targets across all spending programs and consideration of revenues.
“Pretty much every state and local government in the country, not to mention every household, manages its budget with more discipline and restraint than our national government,” said Bourdeaux. “The time for Congress to act is now. We face real crises on the near horizon, including when Social Security and Medicare related trust funds run out of money which will precipitate serious across-the-board cuts to benefits.”
Concord Action’s mission is to build an enduring coalition of grassroots activists who are committed to restoring federal fiscal discipline and responsibility. Over the past few months, the organization has already doubled in membership, growing to 100,000 strong, as people across the country are increasingly seeing the danger of the debt and deficit.
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