The 119th had a rough first year. It broke numerous records, but few were the kind politicians boast about. Despite a Republican trifecta of power controlling the Swamp, this has, in many ways, been the least productive and most dysfunctional first year under a new president this century. But some might argue that while it’s embarrassing for lawmakers, it’s actually good for America.
The True Do-Nothing Congress
As Liberty Nation News’ Corey Smith reported on Christmas Eve, the 119th Congress left Washington, DC, for the year with a measly 60 bills passed. Even that is being generous, however, as only 38 were passed by both chambers and then signed into law. That isn’t the worst year for Congress lately, as the 118th only saw 27 signed by President Joe Biden in its first year. That said, Congress was split that year, with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats the Senate. As well, that wasn’t Biden’s first year in office. 2025 is the first year of the 119th Congress and Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House.
So, record number one: The fewest bills passed by Congress in the first year under a new president in the 21st century – and with a GOP trifecta in the Swamp, no less. There’s more. Despite that lack of productivity, the Senate held more roll-call votes than any odd-numbered year this century at 659. Nearly 60% of them were focused on advancing the president’s picks for executive and judicial appointments. Meanwhile, the House set the opposite record: the fewest roll-call votes (just 362) in the first session of a two-year Congress this century.
From 1947 through 1948, the 80th Congress passed a total of 906 bills, including the 1947 National Security Act, which created the DOD, CIA, and Air Force, essentially building the military establishment we know today. Also on that list of legislative accomplishments are the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine Act, the Taft-Hartley Act, and the United Nations Participation Act. Still, during his 1948 campaign for re-election, President Harry Truman railed at what he called a “do-nothing Congress.”
If only he could see the 119th!
Dysfunction and Division
While the lawmakers of the 119th Congress weren’t making laws, they were making strife. Republicans control majorities in both chambers of Congress, but not by enough to overcome filibuster in the Senate. While many of the roll-call votes went along party lines, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) chose not to fight the GOP in March over government funding, instead supporting what the left saw as an atrocious spending bill. The blowback was immediate and intense.
Naturally, when the funding fight came back up later in the year, Schumer reversed course and stood with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), leading the Democrats of both chambers to reject every Republican attempt to keep the government funded that include an extension for the COVID-era enhanced subsidies for Obamacare premiums. The resulting shutdown blew past the previous 35-day record and lasted for 43. Never in US history had the government been unfunded – fully or partially – for so long. Only when eight moderate Democrats crossed the aisle did it end, but still it goes down in history as yet another infamous record for the 119th.
The toxic environment, as some lawmakers have described it, has led numerous legislators to leave prematurely. Some are running for other offices, while some are simply calling it quits. According to information gathered by C-SPAN and Purdue, the House is on pace to set a 21st-century record for retirements in one Congress. CNN compiled a list of representatives leaving the lower chamber to seek gubernatorial offices since 1974. Ten House Republicans dropped out this year to try their chances at governor instead – more than either party in all that time.
“I just think that I’ll have more impact as a chief executive versus being a legislator,” Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) explained in an interview with CNN. “The basic question is where can I do the most good for the people in the state of Wisconsin? And I believe that is as governor.” That more of his colleagues share that sentiment this year than any other – at least going back to 1974 – is alarming. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who’s retiring after two decades in the House, explained his motive for leaving to the outlet as well:
“The level of partisanship, rancor, vitriolic debate, demonizing the other side of the aisle, not willing to work across the aisle to get good things done for the American people, and just the overall toxic environment. And then we are chained to the floor here on votes that will never become law in a lot of cases.”
Good News, Bad News?
2025 was a record-breaking year for Congress in perhaps the most embarrassing ways possible. For the lawmakers themselves, there’s very little good news there – but that might not be the case for the rest of America.
It’s easy to look at a “do-nothing” Congress like the 119th and get angry at their inaction or their petty bickering. The base salary for members of Congress is $174,000 a year. Many legislators have enhancements due to leadership positions or committee assignments, but even if everyone made the exact same amount, that’s a whopping $93 million a year for the combined 535 seats in the House and Senate. Congressional pay is mandated by the Constitution and can’t be suspended. Lawmakers in the Swamp get their check whether they do the work or not. So, anger or frustration are entirely understandable.
But look at what our nation’s legislators do accomplish when they work together. Consider those previously mentioned landmark laws. Now add to that the New Deal, all the federal firearms laws, the Revenue Act of 1862 that gave us the IRS we all know and love (yes, that’s sarcasm), the Patriot Act, several “infrastructure” and “inflation reduction” bills under Biden’s leadership, Obamacare, and many more over the last two-and-a-half centuries.
No, not all legislation is bad. But the net result has been legislative bloat and a behemoth of a government that the American people simply can’t afford to feed. Individual liberty suffers, as does the relative wealth of the average American. To put it simply, it isn’t when the two parties are at each other’s throats but when they’re working together that the people feel the crushing weight of their “bipartisan” efforts.
Even something as simple as renaming federal buildings costs taxpayers between hundreds of thousands of dollars on the low end and several million on the high end. From that perspective, even a few hundred million would seem a small price to pay for a true do-nothing Congress.
