A supine Congress unable to hold a president accountable. Members who find the job miserable (except for the status). A persistent problem of understaffing and lack of policy expertise. For decades, Congress has faced these growing problems and others. The Trump era has thrown them into overdrive.
Congress has weakened itself and centralized its policymaking authority in the House and Senate leadership. Rank-and-file members feel like spectators who vote as they are told — more like minions than legislators. The reality of this dysfunctional Congress is reflected both in dismal public-approval polling and on the dour faces on Capitol Hill. Just this weekend Ben Sasse, the senator from Nebraska, wondered aloud: “Why am I flying away from Nebraska to go to D.C. this week? Are we going to get real stuff done?”
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