House Dysfunction by the Numbers: 724 Votes, Only 27 Laws Enacted – The New York Times
Representative Kevin McCarthy, the former speaker, had a positive spin on the five days and record-breaking 15 voting rounds it took him to win the gavel in January. Because it took this long, he said after the ordeal, now we learned how to govern.
But as the first year of the 118th Congress draws to a close, the numbers tell a different story one that doesnt involve much governing at all.
In 2023, the Republican-led House has passed only 27 bills that became law, despite holding a total of 724 votes.
That is more voting and less lawmaking than at any other time in the last decade, according to an analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a far less productive record than that of last year, when Democrats had unified control of Congress. The House held 549 votes in 2022, according to the House clerk, and passed 248 bills that were signed into law, according to records kept by the Library of Congress, including a bipartisan infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the first bipartisan gun safety bill in decades.
The list of this years accomplishments is less ambitious and more bare minimum, such as legislation to suspend the debt ceiling and set federal spending limits that helped pull the nation back from the brink of economic catastrophe. The tally also includes two temporary spending measures to avoid government shutdowns. The House cleared the must-pass annual military policy bill last week before leaving for the year, though it is not known when President Biden will sign it into law.
The numbers reflect the challenges that have plagued Republicans all year and are likely to continue, and maybe even get worse, in 2024: a tiny majority that requires near unanimity to get anything done; deep party divisions that make unanimity all but impossible; and a right wing whose priority is reining in government, not passing new laws to broaden its reach.
The raw number of laws passed is not always the best way to capture the productivity of a Congress, because some catchall bills incorporate dozens of smaller, sometimes highly significant, bills that hitch a ride. But this year was grossly unproductive even by the lower standards of whats possible in divided government and after taking into account the reality that not all bills are created equal. In 2013, for example, when Republicans controlled the House and Democrats controlled the Senate, just as they do today, the House passed 72 bills that were signed into law.
Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said Congresss productivity issues this year reached a low point. She attributed it to deepening political polarization and to the fractured House Republican conference with its too-slim-to-govern majority.
Democrats as a party are much more interested in having government do things, Ms. Reynolds said. A lot of what Republicans are motivated by is the pursuit of ideological purity. The ideological difference around the role of government makes it harder to imagine the sets of things on which the Republican House, especially with its divisions, would get together with a Democrat-led Senate and a Democrat president.
Despite the low number of bills signed into law, the House saw a frenzy of activity on the floor. That included numerous votes for numerous speaker candidates (19 across two historic speaker elections), multiple attempts to expel Representative George Santos of New York from Congress (three), failed and successful votes on censuring Democratic lawmakers (six) and dozens of votes on hard-right amendments to appropriations bills that ultimately did not pass, or proved to be non-starters in the Senate because they were laden with conservative policy priorities.
The mismatch between the number of votes taken and the number of laws passed is something far-right House Republicans might consider a win. One of the demands the faction made of Mr. McCarthy in January as they were withholding their support to make him speaker was to open up the legislative process and allow more votes on the floor.
And some of the votes happened because House members defied the speaker and forced them against his wishes, like a resolution to impeach Mr. Biden over his border policies and a move to censure Representative Adam B. Schiff of California and fine him $16 million.
Its a good reminder that not every vote is in pursuit of an actual legislative product, Ms. Reynolds said.
Some Republican lawmakers have expressed frustration at their inability to get things done. If we dont change the foundational problems within our conference, its just going to be the same stupid clown car with a different driver, Representative Dusty Johnson of South Dakota vented to reporters in October after Mr. McCarthys ouster.
But those foundational problems remain.
Rebellious right-wing Republicans, angry at Speaker Mike Johnson for relying on Democrats to pass legislation to avoid a government shutdown, voted to block two major spending bills from coming to the floor.
That marked the fourth time this year that House Republicans broke a longstanding code of party discipline by refusing to back procedural measures proposed by their own leaders that must be passed to bring legislation to the floor. That did not happen once under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the House for a total of eight years, or under the previous two Republican speakers, Paul D. Ryan or John A. Boehner.
When it came to the politics of retribution and revenge, however, the House had a historically productive year. It sometimes took multiple attempts, but Republicans were ultimately successful at formally censuring three Democratic members of the House: Mr. Schiff and Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Jamaal Bowman of New York.
Before this year, only two members had been censured in almost four decades.
I suspect that has something to do with the breakdown on the Republican side of party leadership, said Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University. Theres no restraining of members from going to the floor.
It took the House three tries, but it also made history when it voted to expel Mr. Santos, making him the first person to be expelled from the House without first being convicted of a federal crime or supporting the Confederacy.
Republican leaders tried to frame the year as productive, in its own way.
In his end-of-year recap, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the majority leader, said Republicans had succeeded in passing legislation to confront rising crime, unleash American energy, lower costs for families, secure President Bidens wide-open border, combat executive overreach and burdensome agency rules, and refocus our military on its core mission of national security.
But many of those bills amounted to political messaging tools that would stand no chance of passage in a Democratic-controlled Senate.
Other than the must-pass bills, those that did make it into law addressed the smallest of small-bore issues, such as the 250th Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps Commemorative Coin Act and a bill to designate the clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Gallup, N.M., as the Hiroshi Hershey Miyamura V.A. Clinic. On Tuesday evening, Mr. Biden signed into law the Duck Stamp Modernization Act of 2023, which allows waterfowl hunters the use of electronic federal duck stamps instead of physical ones to meet licensing requirements.
In his farewell speech to Congress, Mr. McCarthy highlighted as one of his hallmark achievements of the year a successful effort to prevent a new law. The measure blocked a rewrite of the criminal code for the District of Columbia that would have reduced mandatory minimum sentences for some violent offenses while increasing them for others.
The president threatened to veto it, Mr. McCarthy said, but we did it anyway, and we stopped him and it became law.
Continued here:
House Dysfunction by the Numbers: 724 Votes, Only 27 Laws Enacted - The New York Times
- South Carolina Republican Primary Live Results: Trump Wins - The New York Times - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolina Republican primary election results 2024 | The Washington Post - The Washington Post - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Trump is projected to win South Carolina Republican primary, beat Haley. Here are the full results. - CBS News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolina 2024 Republican primary results: Trump projected to beat Haley, extending winning streak - ABC News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- When Is the South Carolina Republican Primary? - The New York Times - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Who can vote in the South Carolina Republican primary election for 2024? - CBS News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolina primary 2024: Trump projected win, Haley vows to stay in the race - ABC News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolina primary exit polls for the 2024 GOP election: What voters said as they cast their ballots - CBS News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- 3 things to watch for in South Carolina's Republican presidential primary - ABC News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolina Primary: Trump Defeats Haley, Delivering a Crushing Blow in Her Home State - The New York Times - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Trump wins South Carolina's GOP primary as Haley vows to stay in the race - NPR - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Trump wins Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, beating Haley in her home state - CBC.ca - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Trump projected to win South Carolina primary, beating Haley - The Washington Post - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolina Precinct Map: Detailed Results From the G.O.P. Primary - The New York Times - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Republican political strategist reacts to South Carolina Republican primary election results - WJCL News Savannah - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Republican seeks to bar party from paying Trump's legal bills - Yahoo News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- In reelection bid, Tony Gonzales under attack for centrism - The Texas Tribune - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- To Trump or not to Trump: Stefanik and Hutchinson offer contrasting Republican visions - The Guardian US - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Trump projected to win South Carolina Republican primary - Xinhua - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary - The Associated Press - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Whats at stake for Nikki Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary? - Al Jazeera English - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Overview and Live Results: South Carolina Republican Primary - 270toWin - 270toWin - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Trump wins South Carolina Republican primary, beating Haley in her home state - THV11.com KTHV - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolinas Republican Primary Takes Place Today: Heres What To Know - Forbes - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- How Putin Co-Opted the Republican Party - TIME - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Republican dysfunction drives a wave of House retirements - NBC News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Margin of Trump's victory shows his grip on the Republican party is tightening - Sky News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- South Carolina's Republican primary: What to watch as Haley tries to upset Trump in her home state - The Associated Press - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to be keynote speaker at Republican Party of Brown County's Lincoln Reagan Dinner - Green Bay Press Gazette - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- What to know about South Carolina's Republican primary - NPR - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- For the Anti-Trump Wing of the G.O.P., It All Comes Down to Tuesday - The New York Times - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- State of the 2024 Republican primary: Where the race stands - Fox News - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Inside the campaign to get Democrats to vote for Nikki Haley - POLITICO - POLITICO - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Republicans fume over lack of anti-abortion policies in funding fight - POLITICO - POLITICO - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- With Deal Close on Border and Ukraine, Republican Rifts Threaten to Kill Both - The New York Times - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Trump endorsed by half of Republican Congress members - MSNBC - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Republican leaders forced to rely on Democrats to govern (again) - MSNBC - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Steve Garvey is running for Senate in California as a Republican but don't ask about Trump - POLITICO - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- It is not Democrat or Republican - The Highland County Press - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Nikki Haley has spent 20 years navigating Republican Party factions. Trump may make that impossible - ABC News - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Republican Rep. Salazar blocks Democrat from hearing over her views on Cuba. - NBC News - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Another Republican debate is canceled after Haley says she'll only participate if Trump does, too - The Associated Press - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- How did the Iowa result change the Republican primary? - The Economist - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Christie is out. His voters aren't. Now they need a new candidate in N.H. - NPR - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- New Hampshire's next: Where the Republican field stands after the Iowa caucuses - NPR - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Republicans' 'Bank Your Vote' campaign is complicated by Trump - NPR - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Vermont Gov. Phil Scott endorses Nikki Haley in the Republican primary - WPTZ - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- CNN and ABC Cancel Republican Debates Ahead of New Hampshire Primary - The New York Times - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Dawn of the misled: Zombie Republican proposals lurch across the Kansas landscape - Kansas Reflector - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Opinion | The Responsibility of Republican Voters - The New York Times - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- U.S. Rep. Colin Allred joins Republicans to condemn Biden's handling of border - The Texas Tribune - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Barbara Lee Kicked Out of Hearing on Cuba by Republican Ironically Condemning Dictators - Truthout - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Where do Republican voters stand ahead of the New Hampshire primary? - ABC News - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Actual governing threatens to trip up Republican anti-government messaging - MSNBC - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- 5 takeaways from the Iowa Republican caucus results - NPR - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Where Do Republican Voters Stand Ahead Of The New Hampshire Primary? - FiveThirtyEight - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Oklahoma Republican Introduces Shortest, Most Racist Bill You've Ever Read - The New Republic - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- GOP rallies around Trump after Colorado ballot ruling - POLITICO - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Top Wisconsin Republican wants to put abortion laws on a future ballot - The Associated Press - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Republican prosecutor appeals Wisconsin abortion ruling - Madison.com - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Education used to be a policy issue. Now schools are a culture war battleground - NPR - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- "Incompetent dumpster fire": Michigan Republican party rocked by financial turmoil and infighting - CBS News - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- 12/20/23 - Haley Ties DeSantis For First Time In GOP Primary, While Trump Still Dominates, With Biggest Lead To Date ... - Quinnipiac University Poll - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Colorado GOP threatens to withdraw from or ignore state's presidential primary if Trump isn't on the ballot - The Colorado Sun - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- The Most Pathetic Republican Leader of 2023 - The New Republic - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Trump sparks Republican backlash after saying immigrants are 'poisoning the blood' of the U.S. - NBC News - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- The 2023 Texas Senate, from right to left: Post-special session - The Texas Tribune - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Why Republican women favor Trump over Haley in 2024 GOP primary - USA TODAY - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Republican lawmakers press for special session to reassess Oregons vehicle taxes - Oregon Public Broadcasting - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Why Leslie Ghiz left the Republican Party - The Cincinnati Enquirer - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- How do Iowa's Republican caucuses work? Here's what you should know for 2024 - Des Moines Register - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- The 2024 Republican presidential primary could be over in a month - ABC News - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- After years of losing battles with GOP leaders, some big city Texas mayors strike friendlier tone - The Texas Tribune - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Trump's Republican White House rivals rally around the former president in ballot battle - Fox News - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- With Trump Declared an 'Insurrectionist,' His Rivals Pull Their Punches, Again - The New York Times - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- McConnell and Other Senate Republicans Criticize Trump's Talk on Immigrants - The New York Times - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Senate Wraps Up Year, Punting Ukraine Aid and Other Issues to 2024 - The New York Times - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Indicted or Barred From the Ballot: For Trump, Bad News Cements Support - The New York Times - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Trump Lashes Out At Conservative Republican, Calls Him 'RINO' For Backing Ron DeSantis - HuffPost - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
- Republican Demands 'MAGA' Be Added to California Ballot - Newsweek - December 21st, 2023 [December 21st, 2023]
Tags: