Republicans have derided pay-as-you-go, arguing that it is waived too often, that too much is exempted as an emergency measure and that Democrats rely on accounting gimmicks to satisfy its requirements.

Still, elevated public awareness of the deficit has put pressure on Democrats to pursue deficit-neutral polices.

“If you only have a PAYGO law in the abstract and nobody cares much about the deficit, it is tempting to waive PAYGO,” said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a group that advocates deficit and debt control. “But if you have the law reinforcing the public concern, then you really have something with teeth.”