Can we put to rest the myth that Congress is broken and gridlocked?

Last week, I attended a closed-door event that featured a speech by someone who works in state politics. He held forth quite thoughtfully and exuded an energetic mix of angst and hope for the future of our constitutional republic.  

The audience was rapt, most likely because we shared his concern about the health of our representative democracy. Look at our toxic politics. Look at our skyrocketing national debt. Look at the elected officials and politicians peddling lies about who won various elections. Look at how often important policy decisions get kicked over to the courts or regulatory agencies. 

Yet, one dismaying aspect of his otherwise very fine speech was its relentless negativity toward our national legislature. He declared that Congress is broken and does nothing. To be sure, his feelings are not atypical. Most Americans are very down on our national legislature. Only about one in five Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to Gallup. Certainly, the messy end-of-the-year legislative scrum to avoid a government shutdown is not burnishing Congress’ image. 

But it is simply inaccurate to say we have a broken, do-nothing Congress. Just a few days before the speech, both chambers pushed through a bill to avert a national rail strike. They did this despite the fact that plenty of legislators know they will face retribution from railroad employee unions and allied groups. 

“Bah humbug,” you might think. “It’s one law, so what?” 

But it’s more than one law. The 117th Congress has enacted more than 200 laws, at least 150 of which are significant. The problems tackled vary widely. One bill aimed to help get more baby formula to market. Another law delivered aid to Ukraine to help its people repel the Russian invaders. Another new policy would increase the government benefits provided to disabled veterans and the families of deceased service members, and another act expanded access to mental health services. Still, others aim to upgrade the country’s infrastructure, improve public-private coordination to contend with cybersecurity threats and ban radio frequency devices that imperil national security. This is to say nothing of thousands of constituents legislators and their staffs have assisted directly, nor the myriad nominations the Senate has handled, and the four treaties it approved. 

“Ah,” the reader might think, “the current Congress is a freakish outlier that moves legislation thanks to one-party control.” Well, in truth, the 117th Congress’ production is in line with previous, recent Congresses. Even during the craziest, most partisan moments of divided government (Trump vs. congressional Democrats), lots got done. Americans — even those who follow politics closely — tend not to notice because the media mostly serves up tales of conflict and dysfunction. And too few of us bother to surf to Congress.gov to look at the various bills that have been made law or oversight hearings held. 

All that said, it is undeniable that Congress is not the powerhouse it was a half-century ago. This is why I have spent the past eight years working with Hill staff and allies in the not-for-profit sector to upgrade Congress’ capacity to meet the demands of the 21st century. And progress, albeit halting, has been made. Most impressively, the House’s Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress has issued more than 200 recommendations to upgrade our legislature, and 128 of them have been fully implemented or partially implemented. Some of the changes will help the Hill to attract and retain more high-quality staff talent. Other changes will reduce some of the red tape that hinders legislative offices’ efforts to get things done for constituents. 

Indubitably, there is much more work to be done. Congress has not fundamentally transformed its operations since the 1970s. The budget process is in shambles and badly out of date. Congress needs a Congressional Regulation Office to help it understand and constructively engage the administrative state and its 180,000 pages of regulations. And both chambers and the House especially need to devolve more authority to committees and quit trying to run a representative democracy in a top-down manner. Furthermore, too many legislators would prefer to be social media stars rather than central actors in our constitutional system.  

Nonetheless, let’s give credit where credit is due. Congress is not gridlocked. In fact, it is busy and productive. 

Kevin R. Kosar (@kevinrkosar) is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the co-editor of “Congress Overwhelmed: Congressional Capacity and Prospects for Reform” (University of Chicago Press, 2020). He hosts the Understanding Congress podcast.