The Senate has unanimously passed a bill ending U.S. penny production after more than two centuries, leaving only President Donald Trump's signature before the long tradition stops.
Lawmakers cleared the Common Cents Act this week with no opposition, and the measure now heads to the president's desk. Once signed, the United States will stop minting new one-cent coins that have been part of American life since the earliest days of the republic.
The Sun reported that the bill will end penny production nationwide. Pennies already in circulation remain legal tender. The final step is Trump's signature.
The move tracks a push Trump has made for months to cut waste in federal spending. Last May he ordered the U.S. Mint to stop producing new pennies. The goal was straightforward: stop spending more to make a coin than the coin is worth.
Last year Trump laid out the case in plain terms. He said the coins no longer made financial sense for taxpayers.
"For far too long, the United States has minted pennies, which literally cost us more than 2 cents."
He followed that with a direct order to the Treasury.
"This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies."
And he framed the decision as part of a larger cleanup of federal spending, the same drive that has shaped other parts of his agenda, including recent energy and diesel policy talks inside the GOP.
"Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time."
That sequence, public criticism, an order to the Mint, then Senate action, now puts the Common Cents Act on the brink of becoming law.
Even before the bill reaches the White House, stores have had to adjust. Retailers across the country have put rounding policies in place for cash transactions. Customers have pushed back on those rules in some cases.
Missouri offers one clear example. Cash totals there now round down if they end in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents, and up if they end in 3, 4, 8, or 9. The shift has also made nickels more useful in everyday transactions under the new rounding laws.
None of this removes existing pennies from wallets or cash drawers. They stay legal tender. The change is about stopping new production, not outlawing the coins people already hold.
Acting Mint Director Kristie McNally has said the penny's place in American history will "endure." The coin's cultural weight is not in dispute. The production cost is.
Unanimous Senate passage is uncommon on almost any subject. Here both parties lined up behind ending a practice that had become a money loser for the government. That kind of alignment stands in contrast to the sharper fights that usually define Capitol Hill, from Democratic divisions over impeachment strategy to internal GOP debates on foreign and energy deals.
Trump's earlier order to the Mint and his instruction to the Treasury secretary set the policy direction. The Common Cents Act supplies the legislative close. Once he signs it, the Mint will no longer strike new pennies.
The president has treated small-bore waste the same way he has treated larger budget questions: identify the loss, stop the loss, and move on. Supporters see the penny decision as consistent with that approach. Critics of rounding at the register will still have to live with the practical effects at checkout.
Other recent Trump outreach and personnel chatter, including comments about potential party switches, has drawn more headlines. The penny bill is quieter, but it is concrete. It ends a production line that, by the president's own account, cost more than it returned.
After signature, new pennies stop. Old pennies still spend. Cash registers keep adjusting totals under state and store rules. The U.S. Mint shifts capacity away from a coin that no longer paid for itself.
The 234-year run of the penny as a minted coin reaches its close through a simple process: Senate passage, presidential signature, and an end to production. No dramatic raid on pocket change. No sudden ban. Just a decision to quit manufacturing a money-losing item.
Trump has also spent recent weeks pushing back on international snubs and negotiating contested energy arrangements, including the diesel discussions that drew GOP resistance and the Nobel committee's latest choice. The Common Cents Act is a domestic housekeeping item by comparison, yet it fits the same pattern of forcing a decision instead of letting an old practice coast on inertia.
Taxpayers have been covering the gap between the face value of a penny and the higher cost to produce it. The Senate has now voted to close that gap. The president is expected to finish the job.
When government finally stops paying more than two cents to make one cent, common sense wins a small but overdue round.
