H.J.Res. 139 · 119th Congress · Economics and public finance
Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States requiring a balanced budget for the Federal Government.
How the House voted
Yea from the left, nay from the right, each side by party
House · Mar 18, 2026
Roll call ↗211
207
Failed in the House on March 18, 2026.
Latest action: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the resolution Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 211 - 207 (Roll no. 95)
- IntroducedJan 9, 2026
- CommitteeFeb 25, 2026
- Passed HouseMar 18, 2026
- Passed Senate
- To the states
On the record
- Cosponsors
- 2
- all Republicans
- House committee
- Judiciary
- Lobbying
- At least 7
- organizations named it2026 Q1 to 2026 Q3
What it does
This joint resolution would propose a constitutional amendment capping total federal expenditures for a year at the average annual receipts collected in the three prior years, adjusted for changes in the citizen population and for inflation, with debt payments excluded from expenditures and borrowing excluded from receipts.
How each member voted
The House roll call, house vote, March 18, 2026
Yea unless marked
R · House · AL-4
R · House · MO-4
R · House · GA-12
This joint resolution would propose a constitutional amendment capping total federal expenditures for a year at the average annual receipts collected in the three prior years, adjusted for changes in the citizen population and for inflation, with debt payments excluded from expenditures and borrowing excluded from receipts. Congress could exceed the cap only by a two-thirds roll-call vote of each House, or by a roll-call vote in any year a declaration of war is in effect. Any new tax or increase in a tax rate would require approval by two-thirds of the whole number of each House. The amendment would take effect in the fifth year after ratification and would become part of the Constitution only when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. It did not pass the House (vote 211-207).
Each stop is a step the bill’s own record states, with the date it happened. A ring is a step not yet taken. A constitutional amendment does not go to the President: once both chambers pass it by two thirds, it goes to the states.
At least 7 organizations named this measure in a lobbying filing. A floor, not a total: they were counted by the client name on 14 quarterly reports filed by 2 lobbying firms and by 6 organizations lobbying for themselves in 2026 Q1, 2026 Q2 and 2026 Q3. An organization that lobbied this measure without naming it is not counted here.
The filings record that lobbying was reported on the measure. The form has no per-bill dollar figure and no field for a position, so nothing here says how much was spent or which side an organization took.
5 of them, in no ranking: Council for Citizens Against Government Waste; National Treasury Employees Union; Social Security Works; National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare; AFL-CIO. Listed as filed, in the order the filings were read, and 2 others are not shown. These are not the largest, the earliest or the most active: we keep five names per measure, and the filings give no ranking.
From the LD-2 quarterly lobbying filings published at lda.gov by the Senate Office of Public Records. Read for 2025 Q1, 2025 Q2, 2025 Q3, 2025 Q4, 2026 Q1, 2026 Q2 and 2026 Q3. Our copy holds 24 fewer filings for 2025 Q1, 39 fewer filings for 2025 Q2, 42 fewer filings for 2025 Q3, 33 fewer filings for 2025 Q4, 28 fewer filings for 2026 Q1, 48 fewer filings for 2026 Q2 and 218 fewer filings for 2026 Q3 than the Senate's register counts, so those quarters are the filings we could read rather than every one filed. 2026 Q4 is still inside its filing window, so that quarter is only the filings posted so far.
Congress.gov bill status and cosponsor records; the House Clerk and Senate roll calls; lobbying reports filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (lda.gov); the plain summary and provisions are read from the bill text, each with its section.