A 12-step program for congressional spendaholics

Members of Congress have a spending problem. Everyone knows it, even though most of our elected representatives are reluctant to admit it. They are addicted to spending taxpayer money.

It is a bipartisan illness. Republicans are as guilty as Democrats. But Republicans used to claim they felt bad about rampant overspending. That has declined in the Trump era.

If, after the midterm election, Republicans keep control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, they may even double down on their spending addiction. President Trump is promising a $5,000 handout for every adult in the country. He has announced one-time payments of $90 to 20.8 million Medicare enrollees. And he’s already started handing out $500 “refund” checks to 950,000 people who bought unsubsidized Affordable Care Act (also known as “ObamaCare”) policies through the federal marketplace.

While a handful of Republicans have pushed back against Trump’s $5,000 handout, it is not clear they will oppose his spending spree if they retain control of Congress. The president may be the worst spendaholic, but congressional Republicans have been his enablers for the last two years.

Even though Democrats have loudly denounced most Republican spending, they were just as bad when they controlled Congress under former President Joe Biden. In his last two years in office, the federal deficit was $1.70 trillion in 2023 and $1.83 trillion in 2024 (with a Republican House). But it was $1.78 trillion in 2025 under Trump and........

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