A congressional capacity problem you may not have heard about
Plus bits on Congress's successes, the filibuster, the disastrous federal budget, term limits, and good oversight
This spring I was having coffee with a House staffer, which is someting I do as often as possible—because that’s how you learn what’s REALLY happening on Capitol Hill. One thing I was told was that legislators were often delayed in intorducing bills because the House’s Office of Legislative Counsel, which drafts the bills, did not have sufficient staff.
Then I saw reporter Jamie Dupree’s mention of a House hearing where the topic came up. "Over 8,000 bills were introduced during the first session of this Congress," said Rep. Brian Steil (R-WI). "That's a 10 percent increase in what we saw from the first session of the last Congress."
I took this tidbit to some of the Congress smarties I know, and was quickly met with confirmation. One seasoned Hill hand noted that 521 of the 8,000 bills were dropped by one legislator, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ). But that still leaves around 300 more bills introduced than the previous Congress. Another smartie noted that more staff were needed but so too were upgrades to the bill writing process—such as adoption of large language model AI to create initial drafts.
I also was reminded that the final report of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress had this figure depicting the growing quantities of legislation since 2013.
The crush of bills also is straining the House’s Office of the Clerk, which has a lot of duties—including gathering and feeding all the legislative data (bills, votes, etc.) into Congress.gov.
This is yet another example that explains why I continue to harp on the importance of studying congressional dysfunction through the framework of congressional capacity. An organization can only do as much as its capacity permits, and in many ways the institution of Congress is overwhelmed.
ICYMI
David Leonhardt, “A new centrism is rising in Washington,” New York Times, May 19, 2024.
“It may be the most discussed fact about American politics today: The country is deeply polarized…. One consequence of this polarization, politicians and pundits often say, is gridlock in Washington. But in a country that is supposed to have a gridlocked federal government, the past four years are hard to explain. These years have been arguably the most productive period of Washington bipartisanship in decades….”
But Yet
Sahil Kapur, “Democrats gear up to overhaul the Senate filibuster for major bills if they win in 2024,” NBC.com, May 17, 2024.
“Under the current filibuster, 60 votes are needed to begin and end debate on most legislation, meaning 41 senators can effectively veto bills. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said he’s optimistic Democrats will have enough support for ‘reforming the filibuster and imposing a talking filibuster’ in the next Congress, so a minority can’t block bills without continuously holding the floor and talking…. [Rep. Adam] Schiff said he’d prefer major swings in policy to the current gridlock, emphasizing that killing the filibuster is the only way to pass abortion rights, gun safety and voting rights measures and to mitigate climate change.”
Also of Note
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “Interest costs just surpassed defense and Medicare,” May 10, 2024.
“In the first seven months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, spending on net interest has reached $514 billion, surpassing spending on both national defense ($498 billion) and Medicare ($465 billion). Overall spending has totaled $3.9 trillion thus far. Spending on interest is also more than all the money spent this year on veterans, education, and transportation combined.”
Charlie Hunt, “Term limits ain’t it,” You Are Here Substack, May 21, 2024.
“According to recent surveys, 80% or more of the American people are in favor of congressional term limits. You’d be hard pressed to find another policy that more Americans from both sides of the aisle agree on. The problem?Most political scientists agree that term limits are a bad idea. The evidence suggests that term limits create more problems than they solve and could even accelerate the polarization that’s been hobbling Congress for over a decade.”
Carl Levin Center, “Portraits in Oversight,” updates ongoing.
Portraits of legislative engagement include:
1: Congress’ First Investigation: General St. Clair’s Defeat
2: Joint Committee on the Conduct of the Civil War
3: Congress Investigates KKK Violence During Reconstruction
4: Congress Investigates the Titanic Disaster
5: Thomas Walsh and the Teapot Dome Investigation
…
18: Investigation into 9/11 Terrorist Attack
19: Congress and the Enron Scandal
20: John McCain and the Abramoff Tribal Lobbying Scandal
21: Congress Investigates Gun Trafficking in Operation Fast and Furious
22: Representative Elijah Cummings
Thanks for reading and have a great holiday weekend!