SCHWARTZ: Can the Republican Congress outrun the shutdown clock?

The election is over. The voters have spoken. And the Republicans in Washington have just over five weeks to decide whether they're going to govern or continue doing what Congress does best: absolutely nothing.

On December 11, federal government funding expires. Once again, Washington is approaching another self-inflicted crisis, complete with threats of a government shutdown, political grandstanding, and the inevitable finger-pointing.

But this time, there is something fundamentally different about the circumstances.

Republicans are about to lose control of Congress, and President Trump will spend the final two years of his administration dealing with Democratic majorities in both chambers.

That makes December 11 more than another funding deadline. It may be the last meaningful opportunity Republicans have to establish their spending priorities before the balance of power changes in January.

And here's what I find particularly frustrating. Congress doesn't have to put the country through another shutdown confrontation in February, March, or whenever the next politically convenient crisis comes along.

They can fund the government through September 30, 2027, the end of the current fiscal year. They can accomplish that through full-year appropriations or a continuing resolution covering the remaining months.

That would take another routine funding expiration off the table for the remainder of the fiscal year.

So why wouldn't they?

Is it because they genuinely believe another shutdown will produce meaningful fiscal reform? Or is it because another crisis provides another opportunity to make the opposing party, or President Trump himself, look bad?

It's a question worth asking because Washington has turned political dysfunction into an art form.

Think about it. When the government shuts down, who gets blamed? The president. The party in power. Whoever happens to be the easiest target in the next thirty-second television segment.

Never mind that Congress holds the constitutional power of the purse. Never mind that appropriations originate in the legislative process and require congressional approval. And never mind that the president cannot simply write himself a spending bill.

Those details apparently require more attention than the average political sound bite allows.

The reality is that too many Americans don't understand the distinction between the executive and legislative branches. They see a shutdown, hear that the president is responsible, and accept the narrative without asking who actually failed to pass the necessary legislation.

And politicians know it.

I would argue that some in Washington have every incentive to preserve that confusion. Why solve a problem today when you can use the same problem tomorrow to embarrass your political opponents?

Republicans have done it. Democrats have done it. And the American people have paid the price.

This is precisely the kind of dysfunction that voters are tired of.

For nearly two years, Republicans controlled the White House and Congress. They promised fiscal discipline, smaller government, reduced spending, and a fundamental restructuring of Washington's bloated bureaucracy.

Yet we are still discussing continuing resolutions, spending deadlines, and government shutdowns.

How is that possible?

If I ran any of my businesses the way Congress manages the federal government, I wouldn't have a business for very long.

Imagine telling your employees that you haven't figured out how to pay the bills, despite having an entire year to prepare a budget. Then imagine threatening to close the doors every few months because management couldn't agree on how much money to spend.

In the private sector, that's called incompetence.

In Washington, apparently, it's called leadership.

Now, I understand that a full-year continuing resolution is not the same thing as meaningful fiscal reform. It can preserve existing spending priorities, including programs that conservatives have spent years promising to reduce or eliminate.

But that's precisely why Republicans should be working toward a responsible full-year appropriations agreement rather than simply kicking the can down the road.

Identify the waste. Establish the priorities. Negotiate the spending levels. Make the difficult decisions.

And then fund the government.

There is another consideration that Republicans would be foolish to ignore.

If they leave the next funding deadline for the incoming Democratic Congress, they will have surrendered a significant portion of their negotiating leverage. Democrats will control the congressional agenda and have greater influence over which spending measures reach the president's desk.

Trump will still possess the veto, but vetoing a spending bill creates its own political confrontation, particularly when the alternative is a partial government shutdown.

Why voluntarily create that situation when there is an opportunity to address the problem now?

Of course, Republicans cannot simply wave a magic wand and pass whatever legislation they want. Senate procedural rules, narrow margins, and the need for sufficient votes remain genuine obstacles.

But obstacles are not excuses for abandoning the responsibility to govern.

And let's not pretend that the political incentives disappear when the parties change places.

A future Democratic Congress could also benefit politically from a funding confrontation with President Trump. If negotiations collapse, both sides will have an opportunity to portray the other as unreasonable, irresponsible, or unwilling to compromise.

Meanwhile, the cameras will roll, the accusations will fly, and the American people will be left wondering why the most powerful government in the world cannot accomplish one of its most basic responsibilities.

We've seen this movie before.

The only thing that changes is the cast.

What makes this particularly troubling is that the 2026 midterms were, in many respects, a referendum on Washington's inability to deliver results.

Voters may disagree on taxes, immigration, foreign policy, or the size of government. But they understand when their elected representatives spend more time fighting over who gets the blame than actually solving problems.

And that frustration doesn't distinguish between Republicans and Democrats.

It is directed at a political establishment that has mastered the art of campaigning while seemingly forgetting how to govern.

President Trump will now face two years of divided government. That is the political reality. But Republicans still have an opportunity to determine whether his administration enters January with a measure of budgetary stability or another manufactured crisis waiting around the corner.

The responsible approach is straightforward: negotiate the strongest achievable spending agreement, pursue legitimate fiscal reforms, and fund the government through the remainder of fiscal year 2027.

Then let the incoming Congress debate the next budget without holding federal operations hostage to another arbitrary deadline.

Will that solve the national debt? Of course not.

Will it eliminate Washington's spending addiction? Hardly.

But it would demonstrate that Congress is at least capable of completing the work it was elected to perform.

And perhaps that is what makes the approaching deadline so revealing.

The question isn't whether Congress has the legal authority to fund the government through September. It does.

The question is whether enough lawmakers have the political will to reach an agreement, or whether another shutdown battle is simply too valuable a political weapon to put away.

Because in Washington, solving a problem eliminates the opportunity to blame someone else for it.

December 11 is approaching. Republicans are running out of time, and President Trump is about to enter a very different political environment.

The voters have already rendered their verdict on the outgoing Congress.

Now Congress has one final opportunity to demonstrate that it understands the difference between holding power and exercising it responsibly.

And if Republicans squander that opportunity, they shouldn't be surprised when Americans conclude that the problem in Washington isn't simply which party controls Congress.

It's Congress itself.