Bill requires federal groups to spend all money Congress gives them.
S. 5670 — A bill to ensure the prudent obligation of budget authority, and for other purposes. · Filed by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill changes a 1974 law about how the federal government spends money. It says federal groups must make all money Congress gives them ready to spend. Money cannot run out before it is used. Groups cannot hold back money in the last 90 days before money expires. The bill also cancels a plan from September 25, 2026. That plan tried to take away money Congress had given.
Who it affects
Federal groups must follow these new rules. Federal programs and services that depend on this money are hit. People who use federal programs are hit.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say which programs or money the September 25, 2026 plan targeted. Readers cannot tell from this text what money gets restored.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Appropriations · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- federal groups — Offices and departments of the federal government.
- hold back — To keep money from being spent or used.
- expires — Runs out or ends, so money can no longer be used.
- plan — A proposal to cancel or take away money Congress had given.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,226 characters) on Oct 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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