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By almost any measure, Congress is failing. And flailing.
The government is shut down for the 22nd day, with many federal workers not being paid, agencies and museums closed, and top lawmakers making no serious effort to resolve the disruptive impasse. Congressional staff members have begun referring to themselves as volunteers.
The House has, quite literally, ground to a halt. The chamber has not voted since Sept. 19 and Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to call members back, preventing them from doing any legislative work. He has refused to seat a new duly elected Democratic member from Arizona one month after her victory, though he encouraged her to return home and work for constituents she does not yet officially represent because he won’t administer her the oath of office.
As the Trump administration shifts billions of dollars around to take care of its priorities during the shutdown with scant input from lawmakers, ignoring Congress’s clear constitutional supremacy over the power of the purse, Republicans in control have done nothing to push back.
Nor have they made any move to exercise oversight of President Trump’s legally questionable military moves off the coast of South America, his imposition and threats of tariffs, or anything else that has challenged the authority of their beleaguered institution.
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“The Congress is adrift,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska. “It’s like we have given up. And that’s not a good signal to the American public.”
