President Trump on Wednesday signed a stopgap government funding bill into law, affirming Congress's efforts to temporarily avert a shutdown until at least Dec. 11. By signing the “Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027”
Page F1From§Eachthe midnight edition — 3 September 2026
Congress sets a date to fund the government, no date yet for the $40 trillion it owes.
As it ran on the front
The filing works like this. On Aug. 27, fiscal hawks were already telling the Washington Examiner they doubted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's claim that the country could grow its way out of the debt, because the debt had hit $40 trillion the week before. Two days later, on Aug. 29, Fox News ran the number as a headline: $40 trillion, near $300,000 per household, debt-to-GDP at 124%. Two days after that, on Aug. 31, the Washington Examiner connected the milestone to the trust funds for Social Security and Medicare, both headed toward exhaustion, and to the renewed talk of a bipartisan fiscal commission to do something about all of it.
On Sept. 2, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington told the same outlet that a full committee hearing on that commission will happen this month, in Texas. The story notes the hearing "has not yet been announced." No date. No agenda. A location and a month is what the record shows for the $40 trillion problem.…
…(cont) On Sept. 3, one day later, Trump signed the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027. The bill passed the Senate and the House and funds federal agencies through at least Dec. 11 — through the November midterms and into December. Count the days from the signing to that deadline: ninety-nine. Not a round number. Just the number.
So here is the reconciliation, hon. The problem that fits on a wire-service headline — will the government stay open — got a bill number, a signature, and a hard date ninety-nine days out. The problem that runs $40 trillion deep, that eats a Social Security trust fund on the same clock, got a hearing that is scheduled to be scheduled, in a state, sometime this month.
That is not partisan gridlock. Both chambers passed the funding bill; nothing in the record says the fiscal commission hearing needed a majority anyone lacked. It is a filing choice. The ninety-nine-day fix goes on the calendar because it has a deadline attached — a shutdown that shows up on a specific day. The $40 trillion has no deadline attached to it, so it gets discussed instead of funded. The debt does not wait for the hearing to be announced. It compounds on the same ninety-nine days the lights stay on.
“They can find a date for a shutdown deadline in about a day, but a $40 trillion tab gets "sometime this month, in Texas." That's not bureaucracy, that's the con: the bill with a hard deadline gets a signature, the bill with your kid's future on it gets a committee hearing nobody's put on the calendar. Compound interest doesn't wait for Arrington to book a room.”
“Look, you have to walk before you run — Chairman Arrington is doing the responsible thing, convening a bipartisan fiscal commission instead of rushing a $40 trillion fix through in a press release. Yes, the hearing doesn't have a date yet, but neither did the debt crisis have a start date, so — okay, it kind of did, that's not landing the way I wanted.”
The receipts
EXCLUSIVE — House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) said a full committee hearing will be held this month in Texas to discuss a bipartisan fiscal commission, as legislators reckon with the national debt eclipsing $40 trillion. Arrington told the Washington Examiner Tuesday that the hearing, which has not yet been…
The growth of the national debt beyond the $40 trillion mark and the increase in yields on long-term Treasuries have reignited talks of a bipartisan fiscal commission. Fiscal hawks are urging action. In addition to the towering $40…
The U.S. national debt surpassed $40 trillion, nearly $300,000 per household, as the debt-to-GDP ratio hits 124% with few solutions in sight.
Fiscal hawks are skeptical of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s claim that the United States can grow its way out of its $40 trillion of debt, absent other reforms. Last week, the U.S. national debt hit $40 trillion, sending yields on…
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.