No Budget, No Recess Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 186 To ensure timely completion of the concurrent resolution on the budget and regular appropriations bills, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 17, 2019 Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mr. LANKFORD, and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To ensure timely completion of the concurrent resolution on the budget and regular appropriations bills, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Budget, No Recess 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NO BUDGET, NO RECESS. 6 Section 300 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 7 (2 U.S.C. 631) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S186.IS S186 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 186 IS (1) by striking ‘‘The timetable’’ and inserting 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The timetable’’; and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(b) NO BUDGET, NO RECESS.— 5 ‘‘(1) LIMITS IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF 6 REPRESENTATIVES.—The procedures specified in 7 paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) shall apply in the Sen- 8 ate and the procedures specified in paragraphs (2), 9 (3), and (5) shall apply in the House of Representa- 10 tives— 11 ‘‘(A) on and after April 15 of each year, 12 if the Senate and House of Representatives 13 have not adopted a concurrent resolution on the 14 budget for the next fiscal year; and 15 ‘‘(B) on and after August 1 of each year, 16 if the Senate and House of Representatives 17 have not passed, individually or collectively, all 18 the regular appropriations bills for the next fis- 19 cal year. 20 ‘‘(2) NO RECESS OR ADJOURNMENT.—During a 21 period described in paragraph (1), it shall not be in 22 order in the Senate or the House of Representatives 23 to move to recess or to adjourn for more than 8 24 hours. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S186.IS S186 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 186 IS ‘‘(3) NO OFFICIAL TRAVEL.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 2 subparagraph (B), during a period described in 3 paragraph (1), no amounts may be obligated or 4 expended for official travel by a Member of 5 Congress. 6 ‘‘(B) RETURN TO DC.—If a Member of 7 Congress is away from the seat of Government 8 when a period described in paragraph (1) be- 9 gins, funds may be obligated and expended for 10 official travel by the Member of Congress to re- 11 turn to the seat of Government. 12 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL LIMITS IN THE SENATE.— 13 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF PRESENCE OF A 14 QUORUM.—Notwithstanding any provision of 15 the Standing Rules of the Senate, in the Sen- 16 ate, during each day during a period described 17 in paragraph (1), the Presiding Officer shall di- 18 rect the Clerk to call the roll to ascertain the 19 presence of a quorum— 20 ‘‘(i) at noon; and 21 ‘‘(ii) at 6:00 p.m. 22 ‘‘(B) LACK OF QUORUM.— 23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If, upon a calling 24 of the roll under subparagraph (A), it shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S186.IS S186 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 186 IS be ascertained that a quorum is not 1 present— 2 ‘‘(I) the Presiding Officer shall 3 direct the Clerk to call the names of 4 any absent Senators; and 5 ‘‘(II) following the calling of the 6 names under subclause (I), the Pre- 7 siding Officer shall, without inter- 8 vening motion or debate, submit to 9 the Senate by a yea-and-nay vote the 10 question: ‘Shall the Sergeant-at-Arms 11 be directed to request the attendance 12 of absent Senators?’. 13 ‘‘(ii) DIRECTION TO COMPEL ATTEND- 14 ANCE.—If a quorum is not present 30 15 minutes after the time at which the vote 16 on a question submitted under clause 17 (i)(II) starts, the Presiding Officer shall, 18 without intervening motion or debate, sub- 19 mit to the Senate by a yea-and-nay vote 20 the question: ‘Shall the Sergeant-at-Arms 21 be directed to compel the attendance of ab- 22 sent Senators?’. 23 ‘‘(iii) ARREST OF ABSENT SEN- 24 ATORS.—Effective 30 minutes after the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S186.IS S186 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 186 IS Sergeant-at-Arms is directed to compel the 1 attendance of absent Senators under clause 2 (ii), if any Senator not excused under rule 3 XII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 4 not in attendance, the Senate shall be 5 deemed to have agreed an order that reads 6 as follows: ‘Ordered, That the Sergeant-at- 7 Arms be directed to arrest absent Sen- 8 ators, that warrants for the arrests of all 9 Senators not sick nor excused be issued 10 under the signature of the Presiding Offi- 11 cer and attested by the Secretary, and that 12 such warrants be executed without delay.’. 13 ‘‘(iv) REPORTS.—Not less frequently 14 than once per hour during proceedings to 15 compel the attendance of absent Senators, 16 the Sergeant-at-Arms shall submit to the 17 Senate a report on absent Senators, which 18 shall— 19 ‘‘(I) be laid before the Senate; 20 ‘‘(II) identify each Senator whose 21 absence is excused; 22 ‘‘(III) identify each Senator who 23 is absent without excuse; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S186.IS S186 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 186 IS ‘‘(IV) for each Senator identified 1 under subclause (III), provide infor- 2 mation on the current location of the 3 Senator. 4 ‘‘(C) REGAINING THE FLOOR.—If a Sen- 5 ator had been recognized to speak at the time 6 a call of the roll to ascertain the presence of a 7 quorum was initiated under subparagraph (A), 8 and if the presence of a quorum is established, 9 that Senator shall be entitled to be recognized 10 to speak. 11 ‘‘(D) NO SUSPENSION OF REQUIRE- 12 MENTS.—The Presiding Officer may not enter- 13 tain a request to suspend the operation of this 14 paragraph by unanimous consent or motion. 15 ‘‘(E) CONSISTENCY WITH SENATE EMER- 16 GENCY PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES.—Nothing 17 in this paragraph shall be construed in a man- 18 ner that is inconsistent with S. Res. 296 (108th 19 Congress) or any other emergency procedures 20 or practices of the Senate. 21 ‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL LIMITS IN THE HOUSE OF 22 REPRESENTATIVES.—Notwithstanding any provision 23 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, in the 24 House of Representatives, during each day during a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S186.IS S186 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 186 IS period described in paragraph (1), each Member of 1 the House of Representatives shall record his or her 2 presence for purposes of establishing a quorum at 3 noon and 6:00 p.m. 4 ‘‘(6) NO WAIVER.—Notwithstanding section 5 904(b), paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of this sub- 6 section may not be waived or suspended in the Sen- 7 ate or the House of Representatives. 8 ‘‘(7) PERMANENT LAW.—Notwithstanding sec- 9 tion 904(a), paragraph (3) of this subsection is not 10 enacted as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 11 the Senate or the House of Representatives.’’. 12 SEC. 3. COMPLETION OF HOUSE ACTION ON REGULAR AP- 13 PROPRIATIONS BILLS. 14 Section 309 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 15 (2 U.S.C. 640) is amended by inserting ‘‘or August’’ after 16 ‘‘July’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S186.IS S186 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS