December 30, 2023
If you’ve been thinking this congress hasn’t done anything for me this year.
You’re right – they haven’t.
That’s not an opinion. That’s a fact. And I’m going to show you the numbers in a second.
This 118th congress which includes a republican controlled house and a democrat controlled senate has only passed 34 bills into law.
In modern history – since the 1970s — the average number of bills passed into law by the United States congress is usually in the hundreds.
Now – let me be clear on what counts as a bill passed into law and what counts as a congress. I’m talking about a bill that has been passed by both the house and the senate and signed by the president into law. Not a resolution that was passed not a piece of legislation that got a vote in one chamber or another…I’m talking about a bill that went through the full process and became an actual law. And in case you didn’t know – a congress is in power for two years. So this current congress the 118th will be in power from January 2023 until the new congress is sworn in in January 2025.
So let’s look at the numbers shall we?
Here’s a chart that shows you a comparison of the 118th congress with its 34 laws compared to all the other congresses dating back to the 93rd congress which came into power in 1973. That’s 50 years of lawmaking.
And yes of course – the 118th congress has only been in power for one year – and all these numbers are for two years of work – but still – no matter how you cut it – there’s almost no way the 118th congress – especially at this pace — is going to even be able to catch up to the bare minimum of other congresses.
So – here is the 118th congress with its 34 laws. Prior to the 118th being the least productive, the 112th congress between 2011 and 2013 was the least productive with its 284 laws.
The most productive was the 95th congress back in 1977 with 804 laws passed.
So you may be thinking well – those 34 bills the 118th congress passed into law must have been huge pieces of legislation that are going to change our lives. Right?
No.
The vast majority were uncontroversial bills that passed either by unanimous consent or with minimal opposition, including a law to change the names of a few VA clinics and a law to mint a coin commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps. The list also included laws that punt legislation to a later date.
And speaking of punting legislation — that brings me to January. When the 118th congress returns to Washington DC on January 9th for the second half of their term.
They’re going to have 10 days to pass a bill to prevent the government from partially shutting down on January 19th…and then they’ll have to pass another one in February to prevent the rest of the government from shutting down. Plus major tax issues are going to come up in 2024 not to mention – the house still has an impeachment inquiry of President Biden that’s also still on the to do list.
Look at list of bills passed by each Congress here.
