H.R. 6569: Executive Action Cost Transparency Act

HR6569, the Executive Action Cost Transparency Act, would require the Congressional Budget Office to include the budgetary effects of both executive actions and judicial actions in its baseline calculations and updates required under 2 U.S.C. 602(e)(1). The bill defines executive actions broadly to include any proposed rule, final rule, executive order, or memorandum. That means CBO would no longer look only at laws passed by Congress when building its budget baseline; it would also have to account for major actions coming from the White House, federal agencies, and the courts.

The bill also creates a fast reporting pipeline from the executive branch to CBO. Any department, agency, establishment, or regulatory agency or commission that issues or implements an executive action would have to send the CBO Director a list not later than 10 days after the action goes into effect. That list must include all written documentation regarding implementation, implementation guidance for internal or external personnel and private parties, and any other relevant information or data the CBO Director requests. In plain English, agencies would have to show their work quickly.

A second major change is public reporting. CBO's regular budget report and updates would have to include a table listing executive and judicial actions if the CBO Director estimates they have budgetary effects of at least $50,000,000,000 during the current year, the budget year, and the nine years following the budget year. Proposed executive actions would be treated as if they were final for deciding whether they belong in that table, although they could only be included consistent with scorekeeping guidelines under section 252(d)(5) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. The bill says this reporting duty applies only "to the extent practicable," which gives CBO some flexibility if data are incomplete.

The bill does not directly spend money or set penalties. Instead, it changes the information rules around federal budgeting. It could give lawmakers and the public a clearer picture of how much non-legislative actions cost, especially when those actions are large enough to cross the $50,000,000,000 threshold over the budget window. But it also gives the chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees authority to direct otherwise on whether certain executive or judicial actions are included, meaning politics could still shape what gets counted.