Congress just killed the penny — and that's about the only thing both parties can agree on while inflation eats your paycheck and the Fed squeezes homeowners.
The Senate passed the Common Cents Act by unanimous consent on Monday, directing the Treasury Department to stop minting the penny and creating a national standard for rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel. The House passed it with bipartisan support on Sept. 14, and it now heads to President Trump's desk, Bloomberg Tax News reports. Penny production formally ended in November, making the legislation largely symbolic — which is fitting, because it won't save you a single dime at the register.
More than 30 states had already enacted their own rounding laws or regulations, and some states complained about the federal action overriding their standards. But the real complaint belongs at the checkout line: rounding up doesn't lower prices, and eliminating a coin doesn't fix a currency that buys less every month.
The numbers tell the story of what Congress isn't fixing. According to CNN's poll of polls, as reported by The Daily Beast, just 27 percent of voters approve of Trump's handling of the economy. His overall approval sits at 35 percent with 64 percent disapproving. Three out of four Americans don't believe the president has a plan for high gas prices. One anonymous Trump adviser told CNN the midterms are "obviously going to be effing rough." CNN data analyst Harry Enten projects Democrats winning 236 House seats — well above the 218 majority threshold.
The Daily Beast framed all of this as anchor Kaitlan Collins "schooling" Trump on his "deluded ramblings" about his popularity. Strip away the CNN posturing, though, and the data points are what they are: Americans are hurting, and they know it.
Meanwhile, Trump has found time to bond with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over a real estate deal. The New York Post reports that Mamdani, appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," said he texts the president "from time to time" about the Sunnyside Yards redevelopment — a proposal to build a platform over a Queens rail yard and construct 12,000 homes. "The president and I have many disagreements, but one thing we do agree on is this city and how much we love this city," Mamdani told Kimmel. The two have met at both the White House and Gracie Mansion.
A working relationship between a Republican president and a Democratic mayor on a development project isn't scandalous — but it sits uncomfortably next to that 27 percent economic approval. Working Americans aren't asking for 12,000 new units in Queens. They're asking why a dollar doesn't go as far as it did last year.
The Common Cents Act is the kind of bipartisan accomplishment Washington loves to celebrate: it costs nothing, does almost nothing, and lets both parties claim they did something. The Fed keeps rates high, inflation keeps eroding purchasing power, and the only thing getting rounded up is the price of everything you buy.
