WASHINGTON, D.C. – After much anticipation, the Senate passed its version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” today, which has been renamed “The Other Big Beautiful Bill Act” or TOBBBA. TOBBBA became the talk of Washington with sweeping reforms from infrastructure upgrades to creating the nation’s first federally sponsored golf VIP clubs.

But the bill’s final form had one addition that surprised many in Congress: mandatory credit counseling for all members of the executive branch. It all started when Senator Prudence Pennywise, a staunch advocate of fiscal responsibility, stood up during a late-night session: “Mr. President, it is clear the executive branch has lost all sense of balance—not just in their rhetoric, but in their books.”

The chamber chuckled, but she wasn’t joking. Citing a cascade of budget overruns, frivolous spending, and a peculiar line item titled “Executive Spa Days,” she proposed an amendment to the Big Beautiful Bill: credit counseling for every member of the executive branch, including the President. 

Despite the initial protests, the amendment gained traction, adding an unexpected layer of accountability to the Big Beautiful Bill. After all, how could anyone be against fiscal responsibility? The phrase was practically a national pastime. Both the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, and the Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, agreed during an interview that the counseling idea is a necessary program. Schumer explained: “Most in the Congress and Senate are here for stock trading ideas, and have little to no experience in managing finances. They mostly spend a lot personally because they receive so much from the back end”. Mr. Thune interjects: “The President, on the other hand, has challenges of his own with balancing budgets”, referring to various bankruptcy filings by the President in the past.

It is yet to be seen what the final language in the bill for the credit counseling will be. Initially, the language used the word “shall” as a mandatory requirement, but later the progressive group changed the language to “may,” hoping to make the counseling optional. That group still expects to widen the entitlement programs if the democrats win the Congress next year. In the meantime, the bill is expected to add $3.3 billion to the US deficit over the next 10 years, with or without counseling.