Voice to Congress
Welcome

Problems

National Debt and Deficit

Spending Is Not Tied to Results

  • Federal outlays are projected to reach 23.4% of GDP in 2026, well above the 50-year average, and current law does not bring them back down
  • Mandatory programs grow on autopilot, with no regular review of whether they are achieving their goals
  • Discretionary spending, which covers defense, infrastructure, and research, absorbs whatever is left over rather than being planned against outcomes

Revenue Has Not Kept Pace With Spending

  • Federal receipts are projected at 17.5% of GDP in 2026, well below the level needed to cover current spending
  • The spending-to-revenue ratio stands at 133%: the government spends about a dollar thirty-three for every dollar it collects
  • The tax and fee structure is complex enough that most citizens cannot easily tell what they actually pay or what it funds

Interest Costs Are Crowding Out Everything Else

  • Net interest is projected to grow from just over $1 trillion in 2026 toward $2.14 trillion a year by 2036 if nothing changes
  • Interest is on track to become one of the single largest line items in the federal budget, ahead of many programs that directly serve the public
  • Every dollar spent on interest is a dollar unavailable for healthcare, infrastructure, education, or national security

There Is No Enforcement Mechanism

  • Budget caps and fiscal targets exist on paper but are routinely waived
  • There is no automatic correction when deficits exceed their targets
  • Multi-year budget planning is rare; most decisions are made one year at a time

Short-Term Incentives Override Long-Term Planning

  • Benefits from new spending or tax cuts are immediate; their costs are deferred
  • Election cycles reward short-term action over long-term stability
  • There is no independent body responsible for holding Congress to a multi-year fiscal path

The Cost Falls Hardest on the Next Generation

  • Debt held by the public is on track to reach 120% of GDP by 2036, a level with no precedent in this nation's history outside of major wars
  • A shrinking share of the federal budget remains available to respond to the next genuine national emergency
  • Every year of inaction narrows the range of options available to younger Americans, who did not make these choices but will pay for them

What You Can Do

Next: Requirements

--- END ---
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2001-2026 Voice to Congress. All rights reserved.

Government Spending Metrics

Executive Summary — What the Numbers Mean

This dashboard separates Government Spending into three questions: whether fiscal data is complete enough to support a trustworthy public grade, whether related bills are moving through Congress, and whether responsibility can be attributed to the right people. The current fiscal confidence score is 75.5, grade C. The current legislative progress score is 34.3, grade F. The role-aware attribution layer is Internal Review Ready. A low legislative progress grade means the issue is not moving through Congress; it is not the same thing as a cost estimate.

Last Full Metrics Refresh: 2026-05-05 17:11:05 Role coverage: Coverage file not found Attribution status: Current
Layer Question Answered How to Use It
Cost / Fiscal Confidence Do we have enough fiscal classification, amount, and official-estimate data to support a trustworthy grade? Use this to judge data quality before treating a score as public-facing.
Legislative Progress Are Government Spending bills moving through Congress, stalling, or becoming stale? Use this as an accountability warning about congressional action or inaction.
Role-Aware Attribution Can responsibility be separated among sponsors, cosponsors, committee leaders, and chamber leaders? Use this to avoid blaming the wrong person when a bill stalls.
Public-readiness caution: These metrics are designed to support a transparent public demonstration, but the dashboard should not overstate certainty. Cost confidence, legislative progress, and accountability attribution should be read together.
Cost-Estimate Interpretation: The Government Spending cost-estimate metrics are ready for public demonstration with normal source and confidence disclosures.
Legislative Progress Interpretation: The legislative progress metrics are not ready for public grading. The current data show that most Government Spending bills have not moved beyond introduction or referral and have stale latest-action dates.
Accountability Attribution Interpretation: The role-aware accountability attribution layer is ready for internal review. It identifies sponsor/cosponsor credit separately from committee and floor leadership review, but does not assign individual leadership penalties yet.
Cost Snapshot: 2026-05-04T21:25:35Z. Loaded: C:\WEB\VoiceToCongress.com\40 - Top Issues\050 - Government Spending\40 - Metrics\App_Data\metrics_current.json
Progress Snapshot: 2026-05-04T21:25:35Z. As of: 2026-05-04. Loaded: C:\WEB\VoiceToCongress.com\40 - Top Issues\050 - Government Spending\40 - Metrics\App_Data\legislative_progress_current.json
Attribution Snapshot: 2026-05-04T21:25:35Z. Loaded: C:\WEB\VoiceToCongress.com\40 - Top Issues\050 - Government Spending\40 - Metrics\App_Data\government_spending_accountability_attribution_current.json

System Score Summary

Cost Confidence Score 75.5 Cost Grade C Cost Readiness Public Demonstration Ready
Legislative Progress Score 34.3 Progress Grade F Progress Readiness Not Ready
Attribution Readiness Internal Review Ready Sponsor Credit Records 268 Leadership Review Rate 100.0%
Bill Count 268 Fiscal Assessment Coverage 100.0% Needs Review Rate 9.7%

Cost-Estimate Data Confidence

Metric Current Value Count Meaning
Fiscal Assessment Coverage 100.0% 268 / 268 Percent of Government Spending bills with a fiscal assessment row.
Resolved Fiscal Classification Coverage 90.3% 242 / 268 Percent of bills where the fiscal classification is resolved and no longer in the review backlog.
Confirmed Official Estimate Coverage 0.0% 0 / 268 Percent of bills with official CBO/JCT/official cost-estimate metadata. Auto-classified bills are not counted here.
Usable Amount Data Coverage 83.6% 224 / 268 Percent of bills with usable amount data, fixed bill-text amounts, ranges, or amount classifications suitable for fiscal metrics.
Fiscal Impact Determination Coverage 85.4% 229 / 268 Percent of bills where the system has determined whether and how the bill affects spending, revenue, assets, administration, or fiscal exposure.
Needs Review Rate 9.7% 26 / 268 Percent of bills still requiring human review or additional automation.

Fiscal Classification Summary

Classification Area Count Use
Fiscal Significant Bills 225 Bills identified as having spending, revenue, asset, administrative, procurement, personnel, transfer, grant, open-ended, or other fiscal relevance.
Open-Ended Fiscal Exposure 46 Bills with open-ended or contingent fiscal authority, including language such as "such sums as are necessary". These are not treated as zero cost.
Fixed Bill-Text Amounts 28 Bills where a fixed dollar amount was detected in bill text near fiscal authorization or appropriation language.
Official Estimate Metadata 0 Bills where official CBO/JCT/official cost-estimate metadata was found. Dollar amount parsing from CBO documents is a separate future step.

Legislative Progress and Action Staleness

Metric Current Value Count Meaning
Introduced or Referred 97.8% 262 / 268 Bills that have not moved beyond introduction or committee referral. This is normal early in a process, but weak evidence of legislative progress.
Advanced Bills 2.2% 1 committee activity, 5 reported, 0 passed one chamber Bills with committee activity, committee reporting, chamber passage, or enactment. This is stronger evidence that Congress acted on the issue.
Stale or Dormant 100.0% 268 / 268 Bills with no recent meaningful action. This is a legislative accountability warning, not a cost estimate.
Became Law 0 0 / 268 Bills that completed the legislative process and became law.
Average Stage Score 19.8 0 to 100 Average progress stage score across the Government Spending bill universe.
Average Action Staleness Score 16.4 0 to 100 Average recency score. Lower values mean the bill universe is stale or dormant.

CBO Estimate Eligibility

CBO Status Count Rate Meaning
Not Yet Expected 259 96.6% No official CBO estimate has been found, but the bill appears to be introduced/referred only, so an estimate may not yet be expected.
Watch - Committee Activity 1 Information The bill has some committee activity but no official CBO estimate metadata found yet.
Expected but Missing 5 1.9% The bill appears advanced enough that a missing estimate is more concerning and should be reviewed.
Official Estimate Found 3 1.1% Official CBO estimate metadata has been found.

Role-Aware Accountability Attribution

Attribution Area Count Use
Sponsor Initiative Credit 268 Sponsors receive credit for introducing or carrying a Government Spending bill. Lack of later movement should not automatically reduce the sponsor score.
Cosponsor Support Credit 189 Cosponsors receive support credit. The system should not automatically penalize cosponsors when committee or chamber leadership does not move the bill.
Committee Leadership Review Needed 263 Bills appear stalled before meaningful committee advancement. Committee jurisdiction, chair, ranking member, and referral data are needed before assigning individual responsibility.
Floor Leadership Review Needed 5 Bills appear reported or calendar-ready but have not received a chamber vote. Chamber leadership and floor scheduling data are needed before assigning individual responsibility.
CBO Gap Review Needed 5 Bills appear advanced enough that missing official CBO estimate metadata should be reviewed.
Leadership Review Rate 100.0% Percent of bills requiring committee or floor leadership review before a fair member-level report card can assign responsibility.

What These Metrics Mean

Suggested Public Disclosure

Government Spending fiscal classifications are internally review-ready. The metrics distinguish official cost estimates from automated fiscal classifications, and bills with open-ended fiscal exposure are not treated as zero cost. Legislative progress metrics show whether bills are advancing, stalled, stale, or awaiting review; this score should be treated as an accountability warning, not as a cost estimate. Role-aware attribution is now available for the current target set, so sponsor/cosponsor initiative can be separated from committee or chamber leadership review. Public grades should still disclose data confidence, official-estimate coverage, amount coverage, and attribution readiness.

Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2001-2026 Voice to Congress. All rights reserved.