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Follow the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget for our latest analysis of what's shaping the fiscal conversation in Washington.

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🎥 ICYMI: CRFB President @MayaMacGuineas joined Bloomberg TV's @business "Businessweek Daily" to discuss the fiscal implications of the 2026 midterm elections.

Throughout the interview, Maya highlighted the affordability concerns affecting Americans and pointed to meaningful deficit reduction as a way to lower costs.  She also noted the need for tough tradeoffs to stabilize the debt, aiming for realistic long-term policy goals (such as 3% of GDP deficits), and need for a bipartisan fiscal commission to tackle the politically difficult choices our elected officials will need to make.

Watch the full interview here ➡️ youtube.com/watch?v=chqLEX….

🚨 NEW: Midterm Message: Addressing Affordability Concerns Starts with Deficit Reduction

Press reports have called the midterm elections, resulting in new majority control of the House and Senate in the 120th Congress. The new Congress will be sworn in and face historically high debt and deficits, elevated inflation, rising interest rates, trust fund programs facing insolvency, and an increasingly challenging geopolitical environment.

The following is a statement from CRFB President @MayaMacGuineas ⤵️

🚨Lame Duck Session Shouldn’t Be an Excuse to Borrow More

Through the end of 2026, there may be significant pressure on lawmakers to pass a litany of different priorities to “clear the decks” for the next Congress. Congress should avoid adding to the debt with any unpaid-for spending increases or tax cuts during the lame-duck session.

In the coming weeks, Congress will need to resolve the government funding deadline, which is set to expire on December 11 after a CR was enacted in September.

Yet some have called for going beyond setting FY 2027 discretionary spending levels, suggesting that increased defense, health care, agricultural, infrastructure, and education funding, among other potential policies, could become part of an end-of-year agreement. In total, we estimate that these policies could cost $200 billion or more on a temporary basis or up to nearly $1 trillion on a permanent basis.

Learn more about the cost of potential lame duck policies💰crfb.org/blogs/lame-duc….

📰 NEW FROM @thehill @Tim_Penny: This election, trust the candidate that dares to touch Social Security

This morning, CRFB Co-chair and former MN Congressman @Tim_Penny published an opinion piece in @thehill highlighting the issue of looming Social Security insolvency in the midterm elections. With the program slated to go insolvent in less than 6 years, Penny emphasizes the importance of this midterm election cycle as the senators elected this year will need to address the shortfall before their term is up.

As 70 million American’s rely on Social Security, he suggests several options for shoring up the program including extending the payroll tax to higher income levels, linking the retirement age to longevity, capping COLA for wealthier retirees, and offering a flat rate COLA.

Click here to read the full piece ➡️ thehill.com/opinion/campai….