Debt Man Walking: Translating the Debt Bill's Fourth Title

Title IV (p.52)- Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction or The Supercongress.
Section 401
Their job is to cut at least 1.5 trillion between 2012 and 2021.

• It's going to be a 12-man team; 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans, 6 of whom are to come from the House and 6 of whom are to come from the Senate.
• The group is to have two Co-Chairs. The Speaker of the House is to select one of them, and the Majority Leader of the Senate is to select the other one, after the group's membership is chosen. They've got 14 days to do that from the time the Budget Bill is signed- so, by August 16th.
• The House and the Senate have until October 14th, 2011 to give their recommendations to the Supercongress for consideration.

Said Supercongress then has a little over one month, until November 23, 2011 to produce a report on its suggestions, complete with Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimations on how much money their plans will save (not only between 2012-2021, but beyond).

• The final version of the report only requires a simple majority of the committee members to sign off on it.
• If a committee member has any further thoughts or beef he/she wants tacked onto it, they've got three days to file it with the head of the committee (Sec 401, (b)(3)(B)(iii). )
• If the committee suggests rules that change the "Rules of the House/Senate", those parts of their report are only "suggestions".
• The final version of this report is due on Obama's desk by December 2, 2011. It's also due to the VP, the Speaker, and the Majority/Minority leaders in Congress. Furthermore, it's to be submitted to the public.

The committee needs 7 members present to hold a quorum, or, to call the session to order and get shit done. Proxy voting is not allowed. The Supercongress can hold hearings and compel witnesses to show up as needed. Public notice will be given at least a week in advance.

Section 402- Expedited Consideration of Joint Committee Recommendations
When the committee agrees on the finalized version of their report, it can be brought up for a vote the next business day. If the Supercongress gives their report to another committee for consideration, that committee has until December 9th to report their views to Congress, or else they can shut the hell up about it. Congress has to vote on the final report by December 23, 2011.

• The final version cannot be amended. Nor can it be postponed or delayed in any way, shape, or form (Sec 402, (c)(4).)
• If one house sends an approved version of the Supercongress' work over to the other, the receiving house can't send it through committee. It has to be voted on.
• ...Unless the case is that the Senate sends it to the house, and the measure sent to them is a Revenue measure. So essentially, if the Senate sends the House a measure about taxes, they can committee it. (Sec 402, (e)(2).)

Section 403- Funding
Both houses pay for the Supercongress' expenses.

Section 404- Rulemaking
The Houses make these rules as per their set and Constitutional powers.