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Senator Ron Johnson has stepped forward with a bold, commonsense plan to end the farce of recurring government shutdowns that hammer hardworking Americans and paralyze essential services. This week he formally introduced the Eliminate Shutdowns Act in the Senate — a straightforward law designed to make sure the lights stay on in Washington while Congress does its job for the people.
The core of Johnson’s bill is automatic continuing appropriations so that federal agencies keep operating when lawmakers fail to pass new spending bills on time, a practical fix to a manufactured crisis. According to the sponsors’ descriptions, the measure would trigger short, automatic continuing resolutions — a 14-day stopgap approach that forces Congress to negotiate without inflicting pain on federal workers and citizens who depend on government services.
This isn’t just a press stunt; the bill was introduced on September 15, 2025 and already moved onto the Senate calendar with motions to proceed and cloture filings, signaling Johnson intends to push it forward rather than let it die on the vine. That procedural activity shows a senator willing to fight the usual Washington inertia and put real reform on the table.
Republicans and even some Democrats have tinkered with similar ideas before — Senator Johnson himself led the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act in 2023 — proving this is a recurring, bipartisan frustration that conservatives can lead on without ceding principle. The difference now is a clearer, legislative vehicle that would prevent the political theater of shutdowns while still preserving Congress’s authority over spending.
Make no mistake: the swamp will howl. Career politicians who weaponize government closures to extract political concessions will loudly warn that any automatic funding mechanism “removes leverage” even as they admit the very leverage has been used to hold Americans hostage. Conservatives should answer plainly — we want the government to serve citizens, not to be a bargaining chip for special interests or Washington partisan games.
If Senator Johnson’s bill becomes law, it would be a triumph for accountability and common sense — but it must be paired with reforms that enforce fiscal discipline and block open-ended spending increases during automatic CRs. Conservatives should demand amendments that prevent automatic funding from becoming a blank check, insisting on real spending caps and transparency so that keeping the government open doesn’t mean surrendering the fight against wasteful growth of the federal state.
Now is the moment for patriots to act: call your senators, back leaders who prioritize the people over partisan hostage-taking, and make clear that Americans expect results, not shutdowns. Senator Johnson has laid down a simple, effective blueprint — Washington’s job is to pass it, protect taxpayers, and stop using government as a political cudgel.
