News

Budget impasses are now routine. Fixes are within reach.

Congress hasn’t approved a budget on time in a quarter of a century, and lawmakers appear poised to kick the can down the road again. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have agreed to another stopgap funding measure that would now give their respective chambers until March to come up with a comprehensive budget, averting a potential government shutdown. The plan could pass the Senate as early as tomorrow.

But with the U.S. debt now at a record $34 trillion, Congress remains gridlocked over how to address America’s finances. Budget discussions on Capitol Hill have become prolonged messaging affairs, with Democrats calling for higher taxes on rich people and Republicans proposing deep spending cuts – and real compromise increasingly elusive.  

Why We Wrote This

The budget process has broken down over decades, while U.S. national debt has ballooned. As lawmakers eye another temporary fix, the path to more sustainable finances is hard, but not impossible.

Today’s Congress is more narrowly divided along partisan lines than it has been in years, and the institution is gridlocked on nearly everything, not just fiscal matters. But many say there’s a fundamental breakdown when it comes to the budget.

“What we’re seeing today is the accumulation of a 50-year shredding of the congressional budget process,” says Brian Riedl, a former GOP Senate staffer now at the Manhattan Institute. “Any painful reforms will have to involve both parties holding hands together and jumping.”

In the time it takes to read this sentence, the U.S. national debt will have increased by more than $100,000. It’s now a record $34 trillion. Within just three years, the United States is on track to be spending more on interest than on its entire military.  

Yet Congress, which holds America’s purse strings, remains gridlocked over how to address the nation’s finances. Budget discussions have become prolonged messaging affairs, with Democrats calling for higher taxes on rich people and Republicans proposing deep spending cuts – and real compromise increasingly elusive. Congress hasn’t approved a budget on time in a quarter of a century. And it’s been nearly that long since the U.S. could show a surplus; every year since 2001, the country has spent more than it brought in, though increasingly there is a sense in some quarters that running deficits isn’t as bad as it was once feared.   

Now, lawmakers look likely to kick the can down the road again, for the third time since the new fiscal year began on Oct. 1. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have agreed to another stopgap funding measure that would give their respective chambers until March to come up with a comprehensive budget, averting a potential government shutdown. The plan could pass the Senate as early as Thursday, though the right-wing House Freedom Caucus is pushing back hard and could threaten Speaker Johnson’s leadership as a result, as happened with his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. 

Why We Wrote This

The budget process has broken down over decades, while U.S. national debt has ballooned. As lawmakers eye another temporary fix, the path to more sustainable finances is hard, but not impossible.

Meanwhile, almost no one is talking about the elephants in the room: “mandatory” programs including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which account for about two-thirds of spending and are not part of the budget process. 

To be sure, today’s Congress is more narrowly divided along partisan lines than it has been in years, if not decades. The institution is gridlocked on nearly everything, not just fiscal matters. But many say there’s a fundamental breakdown that goes beyond the personalities and politics.

“What we’re seeing today is the accumulation of a 50-year shredding of the congressional budget process,” says Brian Riedl, a former GOP Senate staffer now at the Manhattan Institute.

Previous ArticleNext Article