Congress has officially skipped town until after voters cast judgement on the GOP-controlled legislative branch on Nov. 3.
Lawmakers, however, did pull off an achievement that flew under the radar, sandwiched between higher-profile — and sometimes failed — votes on bills concerning data centers and college sports: They tackled government waste on a bipartisan basis. And in doing so, they changed how you’re paying with cash.
For nearly 20 years, the expense of creating a penny has exceeded its face value. In 2024, a penny cost 3.7 cents to produce.
On Monday, the Senate passed the Common Cents Act, which will formally end penny production after a 232-year run. The bill now goes to Trump for his signature, having passed the House two weeks earlier.
The Treasury Department had already stopped penny production last year under Trump’s directives and produced the last batch of the one-cent coins in November. But this bill cements the changes underway at the Treasury. The U.S. Mint estimates calling it quits with the penny will save the government $56 million annually. Countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand scrapped low-denomination coins years ago.
Pennies have long been a drag on the federal budget. For nearly 20 years, the expense of creating a penny has exceeded its face value. In 2024, a penny cost 3.7 cents to produce. Legislative attempts to kill the penny date back to the 1990s and former President Barack Obama once called the failure to do so “a good metaphor for some of the larger problems that we’ve got.”
As for the more than 114 billion pennies still in existence, they will retain their status as legal tender, and Americans can continue throwing them in coin jars, under sofa cushions or other desolate places that remove them from circulation.
With many Americans shunning cash in favor of paying electronically, retailers have increasingly complained about a penny shortage. Some states already permit rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel when exact change isn’t possible, but the rules vary from state to state. This bill attempts to fix that with a federal framework that will supersede the conflicting state laws.
For the 119th Congress, this serves as an all-too-rare instance of the legislative branch functioning as intended.
In addition to giving last rites to the penny, the bill could give the nickel a physical makeover as well. In fiscal 2025, it cost 13 cents to produce one nickel — another example of government bloat that could attract more attention now that the penny is going the way of floppy disks and the Blackberry in becoming a relic. The bill authorizes the Treasury to test cheaper materials to remake the five-cent coin. However, Trump can’t simply kill the nickel on a whim like he did the penny. The legislation obligates the Treasury to notify Congress if it tries phasing out another coin, such as the nickel.
For the 119th Congress, this serves as an all-too-rare instance of the legislative branch functioning as intended. The House version of the bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference, and Robert Garcia, the Trump foe leading Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. In the Senate, it was spearheaded by Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand and Ron Wyden and Republicans Cynthia Lummis and James Lankford.
The bipartisanship was a sharp break with a long stretch of gridlock, made all the more infuriating by a spike in inflation that will likely remain elevated for the near future. Just about everything costs more, thanks to an ongoing artificial intelligence buildout that has jacked up chip prices and an unpopular Iran war that has restrained oil shipping in the Middle East. Rather than admit there are serious economic problems to solve, the Republican-controlled Congress has preferred yielding to Trump and avoid provoking his fury.
No wonder a Gallup poll published in September recorded a 16% approval rating for Congress. Another Gallup survey earlier this year showed Americans believed members of Congress had ethics equivalent to car salespeople and telemarketers.
The $56 million in federal funding saved from the Common Cents Act shouldn’t be blown out of proportion either. It’s a tiny fraction — 0.00667% to be precise — of the $839.2 billion that Congress allocated to the Pentagon for annual military spending in fiscal 2026. This Congress will be mostly known for ushering through a historic 43-day government shutdown, a deficit-exploding set of tax cuts and federal funding reductions for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that are only now starting to kick in.
Lawmakers all too often spend a dollar to save a dime. Still, if there’s to be any hope of fixing a government where the math frequently doesn’t add up, nixing the penny is a decent start.
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