Once a serious legislative institution, today’s Congress requires reform. This problem is not partisan; it is institutional. Today’s members care more about showmanship than craftsmanship or leadership. They mistake publicity for governance and surrender legislative authority to other institutions. We require responsible leaders who will carry out their core constitutional duties seriously.
Consider this: Congress last completed the full appropriations process on time nearly 30 years ago, in 1997. AOL chat rooms were becoming popular; Titanic was released; Kylie Jenner was born. Today, government shutdowns are common.
Congress is whistling past the graveyard on other matters as well. Because it has not addressed immigration seriously since the ’80s and ’90s, Americans now endure a broken, dangerous system. Congress also avoids structural reforms to Social Security and Medicare, even as debt and demographic pressures mount.
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It was not always so.
Congress once knew how to legislate, passing consensus-backed bills at a rate of more than one law per legislative day. By the 118th Congress (2023-24), that figure fell to 0.39. Per hour worked, Congress once produced more than 20 laws per 100 hours in session; today it produces 9.5.
To make matters worse, when Congress does legislate, its laws are convoluted. Congress passes sprawling omnibus bills negotiated behind closed doors, passed at the last minute, and bundled with unrelated provisions that few members read. This is not responsible legislating. It is crisis management masquerading as governance.
Of course, had Congress redirected its energy to other constitutional roles, the decline in lawmaking might be excusable. But it has not. Congressional hearings have declined along with legislative output. Congress is not shifting from lawmaking to oversight; it is simply doing less.
Congress’s abdication is dangerous because as it retreats, others advance.
Executive power has become more decisive than at any time in American history. DACA and DAPA, student loan forgiveness, and tariff actions illustrate how unconstitutional executive action expands when Congress fails to act. In fact, in the least-productive Congresses, presidents issue about 21 executive actions for every 1,000 bills introduced. In the most productive, that number falls to roughly 10.
Sometimes, Congress even invites executive overreach. In the give-and-take between Congress and the executive, Congress has been all too willing to hand power to unelected executive officials. Laws such as Dodd-Frank, the Affordable Care Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CARES Act delegate enormous and often boundless policymaking authority to executive agencies. Indeed, recent research indicates that virtually all major laws delegate extensive policymaking authority to the executive branch. Congress announces broad aspirations; agencies write the real laws. That turns the Constitution on its head.
Congressional quiescence also invites states to impose balkanized and unconstitutional national policies.
California, for example, has effectively reshaped portions of the national pork industry by regulating how pigs raised in other states must be housed if their products are sold within California’s borders. Likewise, other states are pursuing quasi-national climate regimes or attempting to regulate telecommunications beyond their boundaries.
Federalism is a strength of the American system, but a balkanized economy undermines growth, fairness, and national cohesion. It’s exactly what led the framers to create the Constitution in the first place.
Simply put, Congress must carry out the limited but essential responsibilities the Constitution assigns to it — and do so effectively. Self-government cannot long endure if Congress refuses to govern.
The path is straightforward. Congress must return to regular order: single-subject bills, real committee markups, and appropriations resolved before the fiscal year ends. It must write statutes with the precision the Constitution contemplates — setting policy clearly rather than delegating work to executive agencies. It could revive deliberative practices: hearings that inform, oversight that follows through, and debate that produces more than catchy soundbites. And it could once again reward the real work of legislating: coalition-building, careful drafting, and committee work that turns proposals into law.
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For that to happen, though, the public must expect and demand more from our leaders. We must double down on civic education so the public learns how the Constitution envisions government to work — and why. We must teach more seriously the liberty-enhancing concepts of the separation of powers and legislative action. We let our great institutions slip from our grasp when we fail to teach future generations what to expect from our officials.
Will Congress remain the guard who left its post? Or will it become the guard that rushes toward danger to help? The choice still belongs to us. How will we train the next generation?
Ryan Owens is the director of Florida State University’s Institute for Governance and Civics. James “Lynn” Woodworth and Zach Goldberg serve as research faculty. The IGC advances constitutional, economic, conscience, and educational liberty through rigorous research, teaching, and public programming.