Congress controls the budget.

When Clinton and Obama were in the White House, they had divided or GOP congresses their last 6 years. The GOP congresses kept spending under control to the point where revenue was growing faster than spending, so the deficits went down.

That's the best form of divided government:

Democratic President / Republican Congress.

The Democratic President is less likely to start new wars (and increase the deficit).
The Republican Congress is less likely to introduce new government programs (and increase the deficit).

@BD66 That is a terrible idea. The present Republican. Party stops anything from happening. Other than Obama Care and the current bill just passed they have stopped all major legislation for about 40 years. The Republicans start expensive wars and lower taxes on the rich at the same time. We should have been spending on the infrastructure during this time. That should be continuous. When Obama left office McConnell had over 400 bills on his desk which had been passed through the House which he refused to bring to the Senate floor. Many of those bills were things Republicans supported. So your idea of good governance is to do absolutely nothing. Great plan.