# Plain Language Summary: 1% Budget Cut Bill

This bill would cut 1 percent from most federal government spending for two years—fiscal years 2024 and 2025. However, it specifically protects three areas: the military, homeland security, and veterans' benefits would not face these cuts. So the reductions would only apply to everything else the government spends money on.

To understand what this means in practical terms, imagine the federal government's budget as a pie. This bill says "slice 1 percent off most of the pie, but leave the military, border security, and veteran services untouched." That 1 percent cut would come from programs like education funding, infrastructure projects, scientific research, environmental protection, Social Security administration, Medicare administration, national parks, and hundreds of other federal programs. A 1 percent reduction might sound small, but when applied across the entire federal budget, it adds up to billions of dollars.

The real impact depends on which programs matter most to you. If you rely on federal student loans, you might see slower processing. If your town depends on federal infrastructure grants, projects could be delayed. If you work for a federal agency or contractor, hiring freezes might affect job opportunities. Conversely, supporters of this bill argue that cutting spending helps reduce the federal deficit and national debt, which they believe benefits the economy long-term by reducing inflation and interest rates.

The bill essentially forces the government to do more with less money across most of its operations for two years, while keeping defense and security spending stable.

A bill to make 1 percent across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans-affairs discretionary spending for each of fiscal years 2024 and 2025.

Blackburn, Marsha

This bill requires 1% across-the-board rescissions to FY2024 and FY2025 appropriations provided for any non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans-affairs discretionary account by any appropriations act. For the purpose of this bill, a non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans-affairs discretionary account is a discretionary spending account other than any account <ul> <li>included in a Department of Defense Appropriations Act; </li> <li>included in a Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act; </li> <li>of the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs included in a Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; or </li> <li> for Department of Energy defense activities included in an Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.</li> </ul>