(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A TSA agent assists a traveler at the Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City during the government shutdown in October of 2025.
It’s not a new idea. And it’s not exclusive to politicians from any state or either party. But it’s a good idea, and we should be glad that at least three members of Utah’s congressional delegation are for it.
The idea is to end the constant threat of federal government shutdowns by making a rule: if Congress fails to do its job and pass a budget on time, then the government continues to operate at the spending levels approved last time.
Rep. Blake Moore, the only Utahn in House leadership, and Rep. Mike Kennedy, our newest member, have both come out in support of the idea in reaction to the ongoing shutdown. Utah Sen. John Curtis pitched a similar plan back in March, when another threatened shutdown was averted.
It is far too uncommon for any politician of either party to support a workable, if imperfect, solution to such a large problem. Most of the time it seems that elected officials are more interested in keeping the issue hot and controversial (Can you say “immigration?”) so they can raise money and win votes, rather than help their constituents.
And Utah’s constituents need a lot of help right now.
The ongoing government shutdown is threatening the economy, in Utah and nationally, as millions of federal employees are fired, furloughed or expected to work without pay.
The money they aren’t spending with local businesses hurts everyone. And the threat of disruption of everything from airline schedules to tax refunds endangers all of us.
Keeping the government running at levels previously agreed upon when there is no budget is a pretty conservative idea. It means that, until someone has a better idea that can pass Congress, the status quo holds.
In Washington, among those mired in the finger-pointing game are the rest of Utah’s all-GOP delegation, Sen. Mike Lee and Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens.
Republicans, who control the House, Senate and White House, blame Senate Democrats for not crossing the aisle to provide the 60-vote super-majority needed to end the shutdown.
Democrats blame Republicans for shutting down the House and for ending federal subsidies to private health insurance plans. That’s an action that will cost many average American households thousands of dollars a year to keep their coverage, endangering the health and lives of many of us.
The annual enrollment periods for Affordable Healthcare Act plans and Medicare Advantage are upon us, so it is an issue that needs solving, and now.
A shutdown-proof budget process won’t fix the health insurance problem. But it will end the threat of these all-too-frequent train wrecks. All of Utah’s delegation should lean on their colleagues to make it happen.