Congress just voted 89-4 to delay its next spending showdown until after the midterms, because neither party wants voters to see what they're actually funding before casting ballots.
The bipartisan stopgap bill sailed through the Senate's first filibuster hurdle with barely a whisper of opposition, according to New York Magazine. Only Rand Paul voted no — he votes against every spending bill. The White House said nothing. The bill omits new ICE funding and pauses a Russell Vought–proposed mechanism for political vetting of state grants. The real fight gets pushed to December 11, more than a month after Election Day, when lawmakers will either be lame ducks or safely re-elected and free to cut whatever deals they want without voter accountability.
That's the bipartisan game: keep the government humming, keep the money flowing, and make sure nobody has to explain the price tag before November. New York Magazine noted that if Democrats flip the House, the lame-duck session becomes the GOP's last chance to stamp federal spending before the 2028 cycle resets the deck entirely. Either way, appropriators win — the permanent bureaucracy that writes the checks regardless of which party holds the gavel.
Meanwhile, the CLARITY Act — the most sweeping crypto regulation bill in U.S. history — is stalled on the Senate floor, and the obstacle isn't partisan gridlock. It's the president's wallet. International Business Times reported that Trump's 2025 disclosures show roughly $1.4 billion in crypto income, including $636 million from the TRUMP meme coin and over $500 million from World Liberty Financial. The ethics provision Senate Republicans wrote to win Democratic votes only bars federal officials from issuing new digital assets while in office, leaves Trump's existing income streams untouched, sunsets in January 2029, and puts enforcement solely in the hands of a presidentially appointed attorney general. Senator Elizabeth Warren put it plainly: "If it doesn't stop the president from profiting off crypto, then it's not really" ethics. Senators Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, and Jeff Merkley have formally opposed the bill, calling it corrupt. No Democrats have signed onto the new language. The House passed CLARITY 294-134 and the Banking Committee cleared it 15-9, but Majority Leader John Thune conceded a floor vote is unlikely before recess.
And while Congress plays games with spending deadlines and crypto rulebooks, actual obligations to Americans got shelved. Newsweek reported that the Take Care of America's Veterans Act died on the Senate floor July 29 when both parties blocked each other's versions. Republican Jerry Moran tried unanimous consent; Democrats blocked it. Democrat Richard Blumenthal pushed an alternative using unused Pentagon funds; Republicans blocked it right back. The dispute: Republicans want to pay for new benefits by slashing future disability compensation for tinnitus and sleep apnea — changes the VFW says could cut $57 billion over 10 years and affect 1.5 million veterans. The White House backs the bill but raised concerns about executive privilege provisions and noted it lacks a final score.
So the pattern holds. On spending, both parties kick the can past the election. On crypto, they write an ethics rule that doesn't touch the president's $1.4 billion. On veterans, they'd rather fight over offsets than pay what's owed. The permanent class keeps its leverage, and the taxpayer picks up the tab — eventually.
The only question is whether December's lame-duck session produces the same backroom deal, or whether someone finally forces a public vote on the actual numbers.
