It’s September in Washington, and everyone knows what that means: the U.S. Congress is trying to agree on a budget before the end of the fiscal year (September 30) to avoid suspending funding for government agencies. It hasn’t always been this way. Congress used to spend that month fixing budget flaws after a year of reviewing White House budget requests, listening to lobbyists, and adding financial “feeder” projects to guarantee timely budget approval. But for the past 30 years, there has been functional paralysis and gridlock.
The last time Congress approved an entire package of budget legislation (12 in all) on time was in 1996. And since then, no matter who has a majority in either house of Congress (even when they were controlled by one party, as the Republicans are today), the budget process has been characterized by disorderly, sloppy, deadlocked opposition.
During this time, the U.S. national debt has skyrocketed from about $5.2 trillion (64.9% of GDP) in 1996 to $37 trillion (over 120% of GDP) this year. As the “national debt clock” near Times Square in New York City reminds us, the debt already exceeds $109,000 per capita (and growing).
Both parties are to blame, but each party contributes in its own, distinctive way to the current loss of functionality. Republicans now have complete control not only of Congress but also of the executive branch (and with it, the entire federal bureaucracy), but they need the support of at least seven Democratic senators to overcome the filibuster and prevent a shutdown. But instead of finding compromise, they are clearly betting that Democrats will simply give in to their demands, including strong cuts to Medicare spending. That’s what happened in March: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer convinced enough Democratic colleagues to vote for a temporary spending bill that included about $13 billion in non-defense cuts to keep government agencies running.
Democrats can prove Republicans wrong. After angry (and well-deserved) criticism from colleagues and constituents, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appear to have taken a tougher stance, calling the elimination of health care subsidies for low-income Americans a “red line.” Democratic leaders in Congress also sent a letter to US President Donald Trump demanding a meeting to find a solution to the budget impasse, although Trump is unlikely to heed the request.
Nevertheless, since Trump returned to the White House, Democrats have once again proved unable or unwilling to organize effective resistance to his plans. Over the past eight months, the Trump administration has cut funding for America’s most important programs, agencies, and institutions, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It has even canceled funding already approved by Congress. In addition, the administration has conducted massive layoffs of government employees without any real assessment (or, in many cases, understanding) of their responsibilities and performance.
In response, Democrats have complained loudly, written stern letters, and held press conferences that were immediately forgotten. They have not used the tools at their disposal (yes, there are few), but continue to pretend as if they can negotiate in good faith with a party that has done nothing but reject the principle of bipartisanship for all of the last few years. By acting as if the institutions of the United States are still functioning, Schumer and Jeffries are alienating their own voters and emboldening Republicans to increase intransigence and extremism.
The American people have little role to play in all of this because the vast majority of congressional election districts are sliced so that competition becomes impossible. In the 2024 election, only 37 of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives were elected by a margin of five percentage points or less. By effectively exempting themselves from the consequences of elections, U.S. lawmakers are trying to please wealthy sponsors rather than voters. This applies to both Democrats and Republicans, although in the latter case, Trump’s support is also needed.
Americans are subordinated to a political class that does not care about themselves or their needs. So it should come as no surprise that real wages in the U.S. have barely budged in decades. But voters have noticed this: some 43% no longer identify with one of the major parties. They have few opportunities to make real change, though, so frustration is often replaced by apathy. In the 2022 midterm elections, young people, women, and African Americans (key Democratic voters) were less likely to vote. Elected leaders increasingly choose their own voters (rather than the other way around), so their accountability is diminished and the whirlwind of dysfunction becomes a hurricane of instability.
Congress has been caught in a budget impasse for the 29th consecutive time. It should be clear by now that the U.S. federal budget process is broken. Every September, America faces a shutdown of government agencies, not because of political disagreements or financial problems, but because democratic accountability has weakened too much: elected politicians have no incentive to compromise (i.e., do the hard political work), to work on real solutions. They just roll along on the fragile bandwagon of the state, not caring about ordinary Americans; they are confident that they can continue to maximize their profits with the rich people to whom they are beholden.
Reed Galen,
formerly worked under President George W. Bush Jr.
and Senator John McCain, co-founder of The Lincoln Project,
president of JoinTheUnion.us.
U.S. democracy and defeating authoritarian candidates),
host of The Home Front podcast , author of The Home Front substack newsletter.
© Project Syndicate, 2025.
www.project-syndicate.org
