Johnson proposes multiyear cycles on a rotating basis. I have one improvement idea.
Eliminate Shutdowns Act
Please consider Ron Johnson’s WSJ opinion post My Plan to End Government Shutdowns Forever
The U.S. has experienced three government shutdowns since I entered the Senate in 2011. During that time Congress has passed 55 continuing resolutions and increased or suspended the debt ceiling 12 times. The national debt has grown during those 14 years from $14 trillion to $37 trillion. In 2019 I supported a bill that would have done away with government shutdowns forever. It passed the committee I chaired 12-2, but never passed either chamber of Congress.
With another shutdown looming, I’ve introduced an even simpler bill, the Eliminate Shutdowns Act, that could end the drama and uncertainty of Congress’s budgetary dysfunction. Some argued the 2019 bill would lead to higher spending and prohibit consideration of other measures until appropriations bills were passed. Those were legitimate concerns. My new bill simply provides for automatic two-week rolling continuing resolutions for any department for which an appropriation bill or longer-term continuing resolution hasn’t been passed. This would keep spending flat by prorating the previous year’s spending level.
Appropriations for individual departments would no longer be held hostage until a deal is done for all.
Instead, Congress could focus on areas of agreement, pass those appropriations, and then horse-trade on areas of disagreement. There would be no artificial deadlines, only the pressure of working with the other side to fund each other’s priorities. It’s impossible to say exactly how this would play out, but could it be any worse than the current situation?
One outcome might be bipartisan reform of the budget and appropriations process. It is clearly broken and needs repair. There have been good proposals over the years, but the partisanship involved in annual funding fights makes it impossible for them to get traction.
Converting to multiyear funding cycles is my main priority. We should admit that Congress simply isn’t capable of passing 12 individual appropriation bills each year. Instead we should draft, debate and pass six two-year appropriations on a rotating basis every year. In the nonappropriation year for a particular account, the relevant committees can conduct oversight. It might even be worth considering four three-year appropriations, allowing two years of oversight for each account.
The fighting over funding fiscal 2025 lasted six months. No one can predict how long we will be at loggerheads trying to fund 2026. With Democrats demanding spending that increases 10-year deficits by $1.5 trillion as their price for a four-week continuing resolution, a shutdown seems all but certain. At least this time a Republican administration will manage the shutdown in a way that minimizes harm to the nation. Democrats take the opposite approach, looking for ways to inflict as much pain as possible for political advantage.
Fortunately, this turmoil can be avoided permanently by passing the Eliminate Shutdowns Act. Anyone voting “no” is voting to continue budgetary chaos and should be held accountable by the American people.
I Endorse the Plan
The side that sponsors government shutdowns always caves.
Worse yet, Republicans have a tendency to increase deficits when they pull these stunts.
It remains to be see what if anything Democrats gain this time, but ultimately they will cave in, because no party wants the wrath of the public when funds are cut.
Johnson asks, “It’s impossible to say exactly how this would play out, but could it be any worse than the current situation?”
To that I believe we have a clear answer.
Government Shutdown Looms, Neither Party Ever Learns They Always Blow Up
Curiously, I wrote about this yesterday.
Please consider Government Shutdown Looms, Neither Party Ever Learns They Always Blow Up
The Democrats are about to make fools of themselves, having learned nothing from Republicans.
Related Posts
January 6, 2024: Two Weeks to Fix Three Problems, Republicans Will Cave In Again
Budget problems haven’t changed for a year: the debt ceiling, Ukraine, and the Border. Israel is logically a distinct issue but is lumped with Ukraine. A partial government shutdown looms on January 19.
Flashback January 18, 2024: Mike Johnson Is the New (But Not Improved) Kevin McCarthy
The House just passed Mike Johnson’s bipartisan continuing resolution punt. Dear Republicans, please wave the white flag and surrender before doing more damage, because more damage is on the table just today.
The sad reality is that attempting to force spending issues Republicans could not possibly control caused delays. And with every delay, additional issues arose and more spending came into the picture.
HGOP Deal on Child Tax Credits
Amazingly, the GOP House Ways and Means Committee agreed to a ridiculous tradeoff with the Democrats that will cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
For discussion, please see How Much Will That GOP Deal on Child Tax Credits Really Cost?
February 27, 2024: This Spending Fight Will End the Way they Always Do, More Money for Everything
I never understand the government shutdown fears. There is always a deal or Republican capitulation.
Republicans made asses of themselves with their continuing resolution maneuvers.
I doubt Democrats will be as foolish.
Regardless, Johnson has a good idea and Congress should try it. It certainly won’t be any worse than the games we play now.
My one suggestion would be instead of prorating budgets, freeze or even shrink them until resolution.
Budgets need to start going in reverse. There was a simple way to begin to drain the swamp, but Trump tried to throw out the baby, bathwater and the faucet- all he had to do is do a 10% reduction plan, something I wrote out in more detail on LI probably 4-5 years ago. Just do 10% a year, something that can be done without the gyrations and you leave office having reduced the unconstitutional bloat that are the agencies by 40%. Huge savings in expenditures.
Everyone is still “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”. The US government is Bankrupt. But the media has Gaslighted the voters into thinking it’s not a problem because we can just print more money, or tax some unnamed group and pretend that those new taxes will not cause more problems than they fix.
When you have to borrow money so you can pay the interest on your debt, and you have had to do this for decades, your Bankrupt.
As a freestanding, self-funded program, Social Security is also Bankrupt. The Debt ceiling has to be raised so the Treasury Dept can barrow the cash needed to pay back the SS Trust Fund the money that was barrowed internally decades ago.
And all this has to be done without letting the voters know what is happening.
Mish provided the real problem to us a couple of years ago when he posted this quote.
Jean-Claude Juncker – Former prime minister of Luxembourg and president of the European Commission – ‘We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.’
I’d love to see the law require the budget to be passed 60 days before the new fiscal year. If not passed congress must stay in session every day, 8 hours a day, until it is passed. All members are required to be in attendance. If it is still not passed then a default budget starts and all members of congress are placed up for elections in 6 months. This year instead of working on the budget, congress took a 6 week vacation.
To protect the Pedophile in Chief…
Now they are accomplices in the crimes against children.
The more shut down gov’t is, the better.
Only thing missing is a “Pigs Don’t Feed At The Trough” clause meaning when gov is “shut down” so are the paychecks.
As it is now they get paid anyway during “shut down”, but at least at home they do no further harm other than rioting and such.
Johnson’s proposal is unconstitutional. Rolling 2-week “auto-pay” continuing resolutions are not an option. Nor are they a good idea.
Proposed “You have One Job” Constitutional Amendment:
Congress is not allowed to take any recess, nor get paid, from June 1 of each year until all appropriations bills are passed.
They had plenty of time this year but decided to take a 6 week vacation.
Great idea, and thoughtfully played. Some kinks to work out, but Anything is better than what we currently are doing and relying on!!
Unable to tame grocery prices or sell Americans on tariffs, Trump is losing support among voters—and running out of time to consolidate his authoritarian poweres
Trump Might Be Losing His Race Against Time – The Atlantic (archive.ph)
Good idea … even for a senate member whose institution is an obvious DEI anachronism designed to get the original 13 colonies to a political consensus. Hasn’t that consensus run its course? Reasonably, why should all states in 2025 have 2 ‘representative’ senators? Equity, inclusion, diversity?
Gold is up, bc the wars in Ukraine and Jasa cont, angry protesters rioted in France the UK and Italy. Trump and the EU cannot bend Putin’s will. The US gov might shut down within a week. For decades Qatar and Turkey destabilized the west and S. America. Declaring a Palestinian state might cure the symptoms, but not the cause. Spanking Qatar was a Turning Point.
Gold, QQQ and SPY are up. They don’t care about Livorno, Rome and Milan, The radical left in Italy fused with the Palestinians to destabilize Italy
First get rid of money in politics then balance the budget
Nobody is balancing a budget that has run on reckless fiat for a half century. Upvoted your post anyway for principle.
My new bill simply provides for automatic two-week rolling continuing resolutions for any department for which an appropriation bill or longer-term continuing resolution hasn’t been passed.
===
could we JUST VOTE IN OPEN-ENDED BUDGET ONCE AND FOR ALL???
CALL it = kicking can down the road until sun explodes.. =
I have a different plan. Simply leave it shut down. 4 or 5 years without a nickel of discretionary spending sounds pretty awesome to me.
Kabuki.
A better solution is to disallow the Fed from buying securities. Let the bond market discipline fiscal spending.
This is indeed better
in real life %10y bond in USA would closer to 10%
, and all fed revenues would go servicing debt
and USA economy would instantly blow off
This is why we can’t have fiscal sanity–where is Ron on this matter?–I’m sure he’s rolling over again for the Trump dreams of glory
An official opinion of the Washington Post…
Opinion
Editorial Board
A U.S. return to Bagram isn’t a bad ideaThe abandoned airfield in Afghanistan was once a symbol of American power. Trump wants it back.
September 20, 2025 at 3:06 p.m. EDT
= once a symbol of American power
wow!!!!!
….During that time Congress has passed 55 continuing resolutions…
deadheaded government
what would happen if they actually did their job?
ohhh, it’s too hard and too complicated
but I need time for my stock deals
Who knew letting people buy their office and letting other people buy them would lead to the end of democracy? Nobody could have seen this collapse coming.
What do you think Congressfolk are there for? The good of the nation? Were you born yesterday?
If Chuck shutdown the gov rates will be cut, along with gov spending, ex the department of war, and a small increase in unemployment payments. Senator Johnson “Good Will” might come later, but it wouldn’t matter if essential factories and their hubs start hiring highly skilled and skilled workers in Q2/Q3 2026. If not the pain will last longer.
Ron Johnson is a chump! He screams and threatens, but in the end ALWAYS votes for the bills that increase spending and adds to the debt by trillions, plus blows the deficits up higher! He is a blowhard and a major part of the problem, never part of the solution!!
I think this dread about shutdowns is overwrought. Sure, they’re inefficient and inconvenient, but trying to eliminate stupid drama is like saying a married couple should never have a heated disagreement about spending. You can put off all arguments about money by just borrowing and spending like there’s no tomorrow. There’s nothing wrong with Congress and the president haggling over money. That’s their job, and being willing to let parts of the government shut down is one of the tools and tactics at their disposal. Downvote away, but this kumbaya fantasy is silly and childish.
Zero chance anything good gets accomplished because we’ve long since passed the pain point. That is anything meaningful will involve pain and pain triggers lost votes and those clowns only care about re-election for, if they cared about our country, they wouldn’t have allowed the debt to climb to these levels. That said, because their shutdown always involves backpaying all staff AND funding what they were always going to fund anyway, shutdowns basically pay for unprovided services, a much worse outcome. Because shudowns don’t involve saving said costs they should be avoided in a fashion that Senator Johnson proposes. Of course this cuts right to the heart of the matter and eliminates the last remaining job Congress was supposed to do–they simply are unwilling and unable to do their job, any job. Just putt this effer on autopilot and send them home since all they want to do is get reelected, collect their grift and do nothing. Why not humorously codify it–this Government will persist even if America cannot.
I understand–hard work is hard by definition. 37 Trillion is a tough nut to crack.
My joke about the shutdowns is they’ll say “it’s costing us more to shut it down”. So, it costs us more than we take in to run it and it costs more than that to NOT run it? OMG. Watch, someone will say it.
This is a great bill. Unfortunately, that means it will never ever get passed because it would require a modicum of sense not a soul in Washington possesses. Both sides love playing their stupid football rivalry game while people die in the streets.
With that in mind, I think the Democrats do have a good reason to stand on this shutdown (if they’re actually smart enough to do this remains to be seen). Right now Trump is running the country like a dictatorship, sidestepping Congress entirely at pretty much every step by signing kingly decrees that somehow amount to law until proven otherwise in a court months later. My question is: why not shut it down? This doesn’t even remotely resemble the (dis)functioning America I grew up in, and there’s no reason to march along nicely while Trump burns the place down.
If they were smart, Democrats would hold the budget until Trump bends the knee on tariffs, something he’s become universally loathed over. This puts Trump in the situation of either admitting he’d literally keep the government closed to steal from the people or giving the Democrats a huge public victory that benefits everyone.
Last time the Democrat base was “infuriated” with Schumer for “caving” to the Republicans.
The base did not understand or want to understand that Schumer had no choice. If he shut it down, Trump would have allocated money to his priorities, and it would have gone even worse for the Democrat NGO’s that depend on their slush fund monies for their elections infrastructure.
If the Democrats won’t play ball, then shut it down. This administration has a plan, and it seems like they’re keeping it secret until they do it. They don’t seem to mind too much and they’re not saying much, which tells me there’s a trap for Democrats.
What will Schumer do this time? I think he will allow it to shut down, just to say that he was “tough” and “gave it his best” for the base, which wants GOP blood (literally and figuratively). Then they will strike a quick deal and nothing will change. I predict a 3 day shutdown.
Good luck on this one, Democrats.
“This administration has a plan“. They do – rig the game as much as possible for Trump and his croneys. And before you say “they all do it”, it is very obvious that no administration in the USA, at least the last century, has been as corrupt and repressive as this one is. Biden was an old fool, and you could argue corrupt around Unter, but not purposely vindictive or remotely as corrupt in everything as Trump is.
No conservative can even talk about corruption in government, after the chiding they gave Biden for being an old fool. Now that Trump has shown how to do corruption bigly, they all have to pretend that the government is not corrupt or be unmasked as the biggest hypocrites ever.
Watch them prosecute “all of Biden’s corruption” as we speak. HAHAHAHAHA
Of coarse, Biden was purposefully vindictive.
The Dems don’t know what to do with good luck, burn it or urinate on it are the two most likely options.
Good one. Just let the two week rolls roll into the future indefinitely, then the budget never goes higher.
Yeah, stupid formalities… In the end spending, deficits, and debt ceiling always go up with both parties being happy. I seriously don’t get the point of a ‘ceiling’ at this point.