Common cents: GOP, Democratic lawmakers agree with Trump’s penny play

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to codify President Trump’s penny-pinching ways into law.

Sens. Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Republican, and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, New York Democrat, along with Reps. Lisa McClain, Michigan Republican, and Robert Garcia, California Democrat, have authored legislation that seeks to freeze production of the penny to save American taxpayers some coin.

Mr. Trump this year ordered the Treasury Department to stop making pennies after years of griping from fiscal hawks over the fact that it costs nearly 4 cents to make a single penny.

“I agree with President Trump that the time has come to fully end production of the penny and save American taxpayers money,” Ms. Lummis said in a press release. “The fiscal reality is undeniable: the U.S. Mint spends three cents to produce each one-cent coin.”

She added, “With a $36 trillion national debt, we have to implement meaningful opportunities to reduce costs, update our currency system, and codify the elimination of government inefficiencies. It just makes cents!”

Ms. Gillibrand said doing so would move the nation “toward a more practical financial system.”

“It’s time to invest in a future that works for the 21st century economy, and that starts with suspending production of the penny,” she said.

Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona Republican, introduced similar legislation in February.

Proponents of suspending penny production argue it’s wise, given the rise of electronic commerce. Plus, billions of pennies are in circulation, meaning the impact might not be felt for decades.

In its 2024 annual report, the U.S. Mint, which produces the penny, pegged the cost of making a penny at 3.69 cents. Meanwhile, the nickel cost 13.78 cents.

It marked the 19th straight fiscal year that the cost of making the two coins “remained above face value.”

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Mr. Trump said in a February post on Truth Social. “This is so wasteful!”

He added, “I have instructed my Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later told Fox News that the penny days were numbered.

“It costs about 3 cents to make 1 cent — even in Washington, that math doesn’t work,” he said. “It’s going soon.”

The penny has been a target for years.

The late GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Mike Enzi of Wyoming introduced the Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings (COINS) Act in 2017, which said enough coins were already in circulation to meet demand and taxpayers were losing money producing them.