Congress needs to get back into the business of regular and routine legislating. Chris Walker and I explored some ways Congress could facilitate that endeavor in "Delegation and Time." This morning, I have a brief essay discussing how well-intentioned legislation—campaign finance legislation in particular—has hampered the ability of members of Congress to do their job. The essay is part of "100 Ideas in 100 Days," an initiative of the NYU Democracy Project.
The essay begins:
Congress is failing at its most basic constitutional function: legislating. While our representatives usually manage to pass appropriations bills and avoid extended government shutdowns, the regular process of lawmaking has largely ground to a halt. This breakdown isn't just about passing fewer bills; it represents a fundamental erosion of Congress's ability to govern. Congress used to revisit and reauthorize foundational statutes on a regular basis. No longer. Old, obsolete laws remain on the books and new laws to address new or emerging problems rarely get enacted. The resulting policy-making vacuum encourages executive overreach and fosters litigation, as federal agencies try to apply outdated statutes to contemporary problems.
Congress is supposed to be a deliberative body in which representatives negotiate, compromise, and build consensus on the nation's most pressing challenges. True legislating requires assembling coalitions to build a majority and overcome procedural hurdles. This, in turn, requires mastering complex policy questions and developing relationships and trust across the aisle. Successful legislating requires recognizing that people of good faith can disagree and accepting that successful legislation rarely pleases everyone completely.
Many factors contribute to this legislative paralysis. Structural rules like the Senate filibuster often get blamed, but these same procedures didn't prevent meaningful legislative action in previous decades. The root causes of persistent obstruction and legislative inertia lie elsewhere. Some contributors are apparent, such as the increase in political tribalism. Others, less so, such as campaign finance rules.
