There are a lot of theatrics surrounding the idea of shutting down the government. Leaders of the Democratic minority in the House and Senate demanded that recent cuts to Medicaid be reversed and enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies be made permanent (the total cost of this would come to roughly $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years). In response, the president canceled his planned meeting with them. Instead, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought sent a memo to the agencies suggesting that they permanently lay off federal workers if Congress does not meet the deadline to pass funding. Cue the finger-pointing and rhetoric.

None of this has anything to do with the actual decisions faced by Congress. Another $1.5 trillion in debt is a terrible idea. The health subsidies do not sunset until the end of the year – not the end of September. And the president can decide the staffing of the agencies at any time before, during, or after the end of the fiscal year.

Instead, the focus should be on some simple facts. Nobody should be in favor of shutting the government and there is a vehicle to avoid this right now: A so-called “clean” continuing resolution (CR) has passed the House and is being stopped in the Senate by Democrats. Pass it.

This is the only decision on the table: Get more time for appropriators to negotiate on fiscal year 2026 spending or close the government. No actual budgetary decisions have to be made. The only issue is more time to negotiate. Bringing in more budget issues is especially ironic because the CR simply extends Biden-era levels of spending. Democrats and Republicans both voted for the same levels in the March CR that extend the funding from the final year of the Biden Administration.

If it was acceptable in March, it should be acceptable now. They all just need to say yes again and get back to work.