Congress should reduce spending in the lame duck session, including by keeping discretionary spending at or below current levels. Lawmakers should pass a full-year continuing resolution (CR) if necessary.
The top issue among voters in the midterm election was the rising cost of living. Since January 2021, consumer prices rose 28%, but average earnings for private sector workers only increased by 24%.
One of the underlying causes of the high inflation has been irresponsible fiscal policy. Excessive federal spending and large deficits fueled inflation while the Federal Reserve’s expansionary monetary policy compounded the problem.
Congress should use every opportunity to reduce wasteful government spending.
An important opportunity will come when the current CR expires on December 11, 2026. Congress smartly passed a short term CR this summer to prevent a pre-election shutdown fight.
The regular appropriations process for fiscal year 2027 has stalled. The House Appropriations Committee reported all 12 regular FY 2027 appropriations bills and the full House passed three bills. However, the Senate Appropriations Committee failed to even release or mark up a single regular appropriations bill.
An agreement on topline spending levels has remained far apart. The House Appropriations Committee proposed $1.894 trillion in net budget authority, which is $162 billion, or 9.4%, above FY 2026. The increase in budget authority is driven by a $234 billion, or 25.9%, increase to base defense funding. Base non-defense funding would be slightly reduced by $9 billion, or 1.3%. Senate negotiators were unable to agree on spending levels, with Democrats pushing against increases in defense funding without matching dollar-for-dollar increases in nondefense funding.
Increasing spending in the lame duck session would be irresponsible.
The House Freedom Caucus has proposed a better path forward. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the HFC Board called on congressional leaders to “limit annual spending to current levels (for 3rd consecutive year) via a CR or Appropriations without policy riders that divide us or constrain the Administration’s ability to eliminate wasteful, fraudulent, and abusive government spending.”
If an agreement cannot be reached on regular appropriations bills that restrain spending by the December 11 deadline, Congress should advance a full year CR. A full year CR would keep funding generally flat and avoid another unnecessary government shutdown. FY 2026 was marred by unprecedented brinkmanship over government funding, resulting in parts of the government being shut down for 161 days, equivalent to 44% of the full year. Importantly, the full year CR can include any necessary funding anomalies or agency flexibility to ensure normal agency operations can continue.
Congress should not use the lame duck session to increase spending while American families struggle with the rising cost of living. The best way to address the concern of voters is to reduce wasteful government spending. That includes keeping the annual discretionary funding bills at or below current levels.