Utah Sen. John Curtis is leading an effort to decrease the national debt — and he wants Utah to serve as a model to get the federal government back on track.
As of March 2026, the national debt is close to $39 trillion dollars, growing by $2.6 trillion over the past year, and is now at 124% of GDP. Interest payments on the debt now eat up more of the federal budget than either defense or Medicaid spending.
New legislation introduced by Curtis would establish a bipartisan commission tasked with tackling the nation’s debt problem.
Curtis, alongside independent Maine Sen. Angus King, introduced the Fiscal Commission Act on Tuesday, which would create a 16-member panel made up of both lawmakers and outside experts. The commission would be instructed to draft a report on the fiscal condition of the federal government as well as proposed legislation to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio within 15 years.
Once the report is finalized, Congress would be required to approve or reject the proposal in a vote by May 17, 2027.
“This is a really important provision, because we need everybody to go on a record and say that they are either for this or not for it,” Curtis said, noting the deadline adds a level of accountability to ensure something is passed. “It’s built into the text of the bill. Hypothetically, Congress can always change that text, but you can imagine what a heavy lift that would be.”
The proposal, Curtis told the Deseret News, would seek to fill gaps that have been historically missing from Congress, leading to the ballooning national debt the United States currently faces.
The commission would be required to be bipartisan. Party leaders in both the House and Senate will each appoint four individuals to the panel, three of which must be from their respective chambers and the fourth must be an outside expert.
“By its nature, it can’t ram anything through that is partisan, the way that it’s set up,” Curtis said. “Another thing that gives us a higher likelihood of success is that the problem has now grown so dramatically, we just don’t have the luxury anymore of saying that we can’t be successful.”
If established, it’s not guaranteed that Curtis would be tapped as a member of the commission. But regardless of his role, the Utah senator said he wants to amplify his home state’s budget policies to ease the federal government’s spending problem.
“It’s quite in alignment with Utah values, and I’m really pleased to be doing it,” Curtis said. “There are some things that we do in Utah that I’m going to make sure the commission is studying that could change dramatically (like) how we budget here, how we spend money. And I do think there’s a lot of Utah templates that I plan on making sure the committee considers, whether I’m on it or not.”
An example, Curtis said, is how the state Legislature handles its annual budget. If the state doesn’t approve a new budget, it must adhere to spending levels from the previous year — a concept that if adopted by Congress, Curtis said would eliminate the chance of a shutdown.
The proposal is similar to legislation introduced by former Sen. Mitt Romney, Curtis’ predecessor, in 2023. At the time, the national debt was about $33.6 trillion — roughly $5 trillion lower than it is today.
“I would say we’re standing on their shoulders,” Curtis said when asked if the legislation was inspired by Romney’s bill.
The proposal already has nine co-sponsors, including at least three who were original supporters of the 2023 legislation: Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Mark Warner of Virginia.