The Kennedy Project
The Kennedy Project draws its inspiration from President John F. Kennedy’s unwavering commitment to fiscal responsibility and his belief in bold national endeavors. Kennedy was chosen as the figurehead for this effort not only because he remains one of America’s most beloved and unifying leaders, but also because of the audacity of his vision to put a man on the moon. Just as that historic challenge required Americans to come together with discipline and resolve, the Kennedy Project calls on us to unite in restoring our nation’s fiscal health. By tackling both mandatory and discretionary spending with accountability and sustainability, this initiative seeks to bring long-overdue balance to our budget. In the spirit of Kennedy’s leadership, it is a call for fiscal sanity and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars so that America can remain strong, resilient, and prepared to triumph over any challenge or adversary.
The Problem…
The United States is hurtling toward a fiscal precipice. If we fail to resolve our growing national debt and deficits, the consequences will be catastrophic. A debt crisis would mean soaring interest rates, crowding out essential investment in defense, infrastructure, education, and scientific innovation. It would weaken the U.S. dollar, erode investor confidence, and give our adversaries strategic advantage. When budget flexibility is gone, our ability to respond to threats, both economic and military, is compromised. The price of inaction is not just financial, it is about the long-term security, global influence, and competitiveness of America.
The good news is the American people are already far ahead of many politicians. A recent survey from the Peterson Foundation found that 80% of voters agree that Moody’s recent credit rating downgrade makes addressing the national debt a more urgent priority. Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike are demanding fiscal responsibility. They recognize that we must make hard choices now, or face far worse consequences later.
Ten Reasons Why We Must Act Now on the Budget
Soaring National Debt — As of August 2025, U.S. gross national debt (including intra-governmental holdings) was nearly $37 trillion. This is the largest debt in our history, exceeding the size of the entire U.S. economy.
Massive Deficit — In FY 2024, the federal government spent $6.75 trillion while collecting only $4.92 trillion in revenue, producing a deficit of about $1.83 trillion. This means spending exceeded revenue by 37%.
Exploding Interest Costs — Interest on the national debt in FY 2024 reached $1.127 trillion, surpassing what we spent on national defense, Medicare, or Medicaid individually. That’s more than double what we paid just three years earlier.
Per Capita & Household Burden — Today’s debt equals more than $110,000 per person and roughly $285,000 per household. Every American family now effectively carries a mortgage-sized debt obligation on behalf of Washington.
Debt per Worker & Tax Drain — With about 167 million people in the labor force, the debt equals over $220,000 per worker. In 2024, the average working American’s share of federal taxes going just to service interest on the debt was around $6,700. This number will increase significantly as the Treasury refinances older bonds at current rates.
National Wealth Comparison — America’s gross debt is has exceeded the total estimated aggregate land value of all raw land in U.S. (roughly $25–30 trillion), meaning our liabilities have exceeded the full wealth base of the nation’s most valuable asset.
Dire Projections Ahead — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects an additional $22 trillion in deficits over the next decade. Already at a historic high, the national debt will climb to around 134.8% of GDP by 2035.
Unfunded Liabilities & Insolvency Risks — Key trust funds are on the brink of insolvency. The Social Security Old-Age & Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is projected to run dry by 2033, and Medicare Part A by 2036. Without reform, significant cuts will occur automatically when these funds are depleted.
Credit Rating Downgrade — In May 2025, Moody’s downgraded U.S. sovereign credit, citing unsustainable debt, rising deficits, and ballooning interest costs. This downgrade increases borrowing costs and signals to the world that America’s fiscal strength is in doubt.
National Security & Global Standing at Risk — Mounting debt threatens the U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency, undermines our ability to invest in defense and innovation, and constrains future generations. If unchecked, America will struggle to compete with rising adversaries who are betting on our decline.
Discretionary Spending Reforms
Discretionary spending is equally plagued. The federal budget process has collapsed into dysfunction. Since 1977, Congress has completed all 12 appropriations bills on time only four times. The government is instead funded with a combination of short-term continuing resolutions and massive omnibus bills that drive waste and undermine accountability. The budget process itself is excessively cumbersome requiring a presidential budget request, followed by a congressional budget resolutions, separate authorizations and appropriations processes within each chamber, conferencing between the chambers to remedy differences, and signature by the President each and every year. This complexity routinely fails. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently reported that 29% of discretionary spending in FY2025 (roughly $500 billion) is unauthorized. The oldest expired authorization dates back to 1980. $500 billion is more than twice the combined annual budgets of the Departments of Energy, Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security.
AFSA’s Solutions for Discretionary Spending:
Streamlined Budget Process: Consolidate budget resolution, authorization, and appropriation steps into a simpler framework.
Adversarial Budget Review: Incorporate private sector consultants, incentivized to identify savings, into the regular appropriations process to present lawmakers with evidence of waste, spending outside agency scope, and spending misaligned with agency goals. This ensures an institutionalized voice against overspending.
Universal PAYGO: Any new spending without a named offset reduces all agencies’ budgets proportionally the following year without exception, including defense. This prevents aggregate budget creep.
End “Use It or Lose It”: Allow unspent funds to roll over into future years, reducing the incentive for year-end spending sprees.
Limit unauthorized appropriations: Place strict caps or automatic sunsets on discretionary programs lacking reauthorization, forcing congressional review.
Reign in Emergency Spending: In 2024, emergency spending (spending outside the formal budget process) was $149.3 billion or 11% of all discretionary spending. Tighter controls, better planning, and future offsets are required to reduce emergency spending.
Performance-based budgeting: Tie spending allocations to measurable outcomes, not tradition, or political inertia.
Together, these reforms represent a comprehensive solution to America’s debt crisis. Just as past generations rose to historic challenges, we must now reprogram our budget for sustainability. Without it, we risk forfeiting our fiscal future, our national security, and our leadership in the world.
The Solution….
The American Fiscal Sustainability Act: Securing Prosperity for Generations (AFSA)
The federal budget has two main sides: mandatory spending (sometimes called “automatic” or “direct” spending) and discretionary spending (appropriated annually by Congress). Mandatory spending is the primary driver of America’s growing debt. Mandatory spending in 2024 included: Net Interest on the Debt ($1.13T), Social Security ($1.36T), Medicare ($1.35T), Medicaid ($597B), Federal civilian and military retirement benefits ($317B), Veterans benefits and health care ($230B), Unemployment Insurance ($95.7B), Welfare programs like SSI / SNAP / TANF ($179.3B), other automatic programs such as Agricultural Subsidies, Student Loans, Deposit Insurance ($100B), and Revenue reduction programs such as Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit ($196B). Excluding revenue reduction programs, 2024 mandatory outlays represent 104% of revenues. This means every tax dollar Washington collected, and more, was already spoken for by automatic spending, before Congress could appropriate a single dime for defense, transportation, education, infrastructure, or any federal agency. The AFA tackles both mandatory and discretionary spending with bold reforms designed to safeguard America’s financial future for generations to come.
Mandatory Spending Reforms
The AFSA seeks to “Program the Programs.” AFSA introduces structural reforms that cap each mandatory program’s spending as a percentage of federal revenue, then automatically adjust program variables to keep program costs within the cap. These programs’ spending and increases are automated, therefore, their cost controls must also be automated. This can be done without cutting benefits for current beneficiaries.
Example Social Security: When Social Security was established in 1935, there were 12 workers supporting every 1 retiree. The average retirement age was 63 and life expectancy hovered around 67 years, leaving only a short payout window. Today, the ratio has collapsed to 2.8 workers per beneficiary with life expectancy at nearly 79 years, yet the full retirement age has inched up only modestly to 67. This imbalance, coupled with the looming depletion of the Social Security Trust Fund by 2033, threatens automatic across-the-board benefit cuts of roughly 23%.
The primary cost control levers within Social Security are: Retirement Age, Benefit Payouts, Spousal Benefits, Revenue variables including payroll tax percentage / wage cap / years worked requirement, and cost of living adjustments. These levers should be automatically adjusted for future beneficiaries to bring the program back within balance over time. Current beneficiaries will not be affected by the adjustments. Instead the program will move to a “vesting” system, where beneficiaries gradually gain an increasing guarantee on their benefits, with 100% of their benefits guaranteed for life upon full retirement age. The legislator will review the adjustments annually and retain full control over how the levers move to make the program balance. For example, if retirement age alone were the only variable adjusted, an increase to the age of 70 would roughly restore full solvency for several decades.
Applied beyond Social Security, this framework would extend to other automatic income-support programs.
Why The Kennedy Project requires Financing?
Every day, special interests lobby Congress for their own gain. The Kennedy Project is different, fighting for the American people on the urgent issue of budget reform. Like any successful policy campaign, the American Fiscal Sustainability Act requires financial support to:
Secure the involvement of leading experts.
Hiring marketing and public relations firms to generate and promote content.
Engage professional lobbying firms to help build and execute our legislative strategy.
Assign dedicated personnel to this effort.
Our leaders have shown they won’t solve this crisis on their own. It will take the American people, working through The Kennedy Project, to protect our nation’s future. Donate today to be part of the solution.