WASHINGTON • Here's one way Congress can trim the nation's record deficits: Do nothing.

Keeping Congress gridlocked on budget issues would cut the federal deficit in half within a year and set the downward path to continue for years to come.

Legislation already on the books, if left alone, would do several things: Tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush's administration would expire Dec. 31, generating more revenue. And deep automatic budget cuts passed as part of last summer's debt-ceiling deal would slash spending in 2013.

Pain would come with the progress, however. If Congress agreed to let such choices stand, the short-term effect would curtail the nation's modest economic growth. The unemployment rate would rise back above 9 percent next year, a result of substantial reductions to the federal workforce and sluggish demand, according to the latest report from the Congressional Budget Office.

This is the Catch-22 facing Congress and driving the campaign. Tea Party activists want to reduce spending. Democrats want to raise taxes on the affluent. And economists warn that sudden budget cuts or tax increases can damage a recovering economy.

"On the one hand, if policymakers leave current laws unchanged, the federal debt will probably recede slowly," said Douglas W. Elmendorf, director of the CBO. "On the other hand, changing current laws to let current policies continue ... would boost the economy and allow people to pay less in taxes and benefit more from government programs in the next few years — but put the nation on an unsustainable fiscal course."