Learning Economic Literacy Through Another Government Shutdown
Same show, different day.
Despite last-minute negotiations, federal leaders have once again entered another federal government shutdown, as funding has lapsed for the Department of Homeland Security.
To eventually re-open DHS, Congress will have to resort to an increasingly common financial legerdemain: funding the federal government through a last-minute “continuing resolution” rather than an on-time vote before the start of the fiscal year, which began in October.
Rather than make the hard financial choices to fund the budget on time, which could involve cutting spending on popular programs or increasing revenue through taxes, Congress is fond of punting the decision another year. In doing so, Congress often raises the federal debt ceiling in tandem with passing a continuing resolution (which it did again last July), relying on increased government borrowing to make up the difference.
This concerning phenomenon isn’t new.
If Congress doesn’t get its act together, 2026 will mark 30 straight years since it last passed a fully funded budget on time. It took former President Bill Clinton declaring “the era of big government is over” after a painful midterm election for his party to deliver a full federal budget in September 1996.
Unfortunately, Clinton was wildly wrong on that score. Since his pronouncement three decades ago, the federal debt has skyrocketed from approximately $10.7 trillion in 1996 to more than $37 trillion today, alongside a similar increase in the size and scope of the federal government. In 1996, debt accounted for 66% of U.S. GDP; today, it is 124% of GDP.
In light of these concerning statistics, perhaps our trend of recent federal government shutdowns could be seen as a positive–a way to highlight the increasingly unsustainable nature of federal spending, and an opportunity to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget?
Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way.
The current shutdown centers on the politics of increased funding for DHS and its subagency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a funding bill totaling nearly $1.2 trillion dollars, Congress shut down the government over approximately $10 billion for ICE funding–less than 1% of the total bill amount. At our government’s current rate of overspending, the federal debt increases by roughly $10 billion every 36 hours.
The October 2025 federal government shutdown was similar. Congressional negotiators debated the potential extension of premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, leading to a 43-day shutdown, the longest ever. Eventually, the government was funded–but not before the federal debt would have grown by about $266 billion.
There’s no free lunch carrying this debt.
It costs $355 billion annually just to maintain interest payments–19% of total federal spending in fiscal year 2026.
Instead of playing politics over trivial amounts of federal spending, our leaders should tackle the debt’s real causes, including ballooning interest payments, growing entitlement programs, and other mandatory spending. The fact that they don’t reflects on our nation’s concerning lack of economic literacy.
Economic literacy is the understanding of the core economic principles …
Same show, different day.
Despite last-minute negotiations, federal leaders have once again entered another federal government shutdown, as funding has lapsed for the Department of Homeland Security.
To eventually re-open DHS, Congress will have to resort to an increasingly common financial legerdemain: funding the federal government through a last-minute “continuing resolution” rather than an on-time vote before the start of the fiscal year, which began in October.
Rather than make the hard financial choices to fund the budget on time, which could involve cutting spending on popular programs or increasing revenue through taxes, Congress is fond of punting the decision another year. In doing so, Congress often raises the federal debt ceiling in tandem with passing a continuing resolution (which it did again last July), relying on increased government borrowing to make up the difference.
This concerning phenomenon isn’t new.
If Congress doesn’t get its act together, 2026 will mark 30 straight years since it last passed a fully funded budget on time. It took former President Bill Clinton declaring “the era of big government is over” after a painful midterm election for his party to deliver a full federal budget in September 1996.
Unfortunately, Clinton was wildly wrong on that score. Since his pronouncement three decades ago, the federal debt has skyrocketed from approximately $10.7 trillion in 1996 to more than $37 trillion today, alongside a similar increase in the size and scope of the federal government. In 1996, debt accounted for 66% of U.S. GDP; today, it is 124% of GDP.
In light of these concerning statistics, perhaps our trend of recent federal government shutdowns could be seen as a positive–a way to highlight the increasingly unsustainable nature of federal spending, and an opportunity to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget?
Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way.
The current shutdown centers on the politics of increased funding for DHS and its subagency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a funding bill totaling nearly $1.2 trillion dollars, Congress shut down the government over approximately $10 billion for ICE funding–less than 1% of the total bill amount. At our government’s current rate of overspending, the federal debt increases by roughly $10 billion every 36 hours.
The October 2025 federal government shutdown was similar. Congressional negotiators debated the potential extension of premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, leading to a 43-day shutdown, the longest ever. Eventually, the government was funded–but not before the federal debt would have grown by about $266 billion.
There’s no free lunch carrying this debt.
It costs $355 billion annually just to maintain interest payments–19% of total federal spending in fiscal year 2026.
Instead of playing politics over trivial amounts of federal spending, our leaders should tackle the debt’s real causes, including ballooning interest payments, growing entitlement programs, and other mandatory spending. The fact that they don’t reflects on our nation’s concerning lack of economic literacy.
Economic literacy is the understanding of the core economic principles …
Learning Economic Literacy Through Another Government Shutdown
Same show, different day.
Despite last-minute negotiations, federal leaders have once again entered another federal government shutdown, as funding has lapsed for the Department of Homeland Security.
To eventually re-open DHS, Congress will have to resort to an increasingly common financial legerdemain: funding the federal government through a last-minute “continuing resolution” rather than an on-time vote before the start of the fiscal year, which began in October.
Rather than make the hard financial choices to fund the budget on time, which could involve cutting spending on popular programs or increasing revenue through taxes, Congress is fond of punting the decision another year. In doing so, Congress often raises the federal debt ceiling in tandem with passing a continuing resolution (which it did again last July), relying on increased government borrowing to make up the difference.
This concerning phenomenon isn’t new.
If Congress doesn’t get its act together, 2026 will mark 30 straight years since it last passed a fully funded budget on time. It took former President Bill Clinton declaring “the era of big government is over” after a painful midterm election for his party to deliver a full federal budget in September 1996.
Unfortunately, Clinton was wildly wrong on that score. Since his pronouncement three decades ago, the federal debt has skyrocketed from approximately $10.7 trillion in 1996 to more than $37 trillion today, alongside a similar increase in the size and scope of the federal government. In 1996, debt accounted for 66% of U.S. GDP; today, it is 124% of GDP.
In light of these concerning statistics, perhaps our trend of recent federal government shutdowns could be seen as a positive–a way to highlight the increasingly unsustainable nature of federal spending, and an opportunity to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget?
Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way.
The current shutdown centers on the politics of increased funding for DHS and its subagency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a funding bill totaling nearly $1.2 trillion dollars, Congress shut down the government over approximately $10 billion for ICE funding–less than 1% of the total bill amount. At our government’s current rate of overspending, the federal debt increases by roughly $10 billion every 36 hours.
The October 2025 federal government shutdown was similar. Congressional negotiators debated the potential extension of premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, leading to a 43-day shutdown, the longest ever. Eventually, the government was funded–but not before the federal debt would have grown by about $266 billion.
There’s no free lunch carrying this debt.
It costs $355 billion annually just to maintain interest payments–19% of total federal spending in fiscal year 2026.
Instead of playing politics over trivial amounts of federal spending, our leaders should tackle the debt’s real causes, including ballooning interest payments, growing entitlement programs, and other mandatory spending. The fact that they don’t reflects on our nation’s concerning lack of economic literacy.
Economic literacy is the understanding of the core economic principles …
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