The do-nothing Congress

OPINION:

Americans’ disapproval of Congress is at a record high of 86%, according to the latest Gallup poll, while Republicans’ approval has plummeted from 63% last year to just 20% this spring.

Who can blame the general public for their displeasure?

Congress has spent the majority of its time locked in government shutdowns, unable to agree on federal funding. As Congress holds the “power of the purse,” keeping the government running is, quite simply, its most basic function, which it has been unable to do over the past year.

There was a 43-day full shutdown in late 2025, followed by the longest partial shutdown in U.S. history (76 days) this spring, which affected the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are still unfunded.

Republicans in Congress vowed to fund ICE and CBP in a reconciliation bill, which needs only a majority vote to pass, yet they have still failed to do so. In the wake of the third assassination attempt on the president’s life, this time at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, the White House has requested additional funding for the Secret Service to bulk up security and include it in this bill.

Republicans on Capitol Hill have balked at the $1 billion request, and, as of this writing, are still squabbling among themselves over whether to include it.

On the pressing affordability issue among Americans, Congress has also failed to act. House Republicans are at an impasse with the White House and the Senate over a bill to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes, a practice that is driving up costs. The bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has stalled in the House, where some want to revise the bill to loosen its restrictions on investors, thereby lessening its potential effectiveness.

President Trump has also called on Congress to pause the federal gas tax of about 18 cents to lower the average price at the pump amid the ongoing conflict with Iran. Here, too, Republicans on Capitol Hill have been reluctant to act, arguing that the pause is a political gimmick that would deplete the Highway Trust Fund, the primary source of funding for national road and bridge repairs, and could spike inflation.

Never mind that it was a tactic used by President Biden to bring down gas prices during the Russia-Ukraine war. Even if its impact is limited, it could be touted as a political win, one Republicans in Congress clearly do not want.

So too, it would seem, in America’s conflict with Iran. This week, three Republicans in the Senate voted with Democrats to end U.S. involvement in the Iranian conflict, which would have required authorized action from Congress. The War Powers Resolution has been consistently ignored by U.S. presidents to bypass congressional approval for military engagements, and Congress has often been hesitant to enforce it, worried that doing so would mean failing to support troops in active combat situations.

This is not the case with Mr. Trump; instead, Congress is looking to rein him in. Arguably, not finishing the job with Iran would lessen America’s influence worldwide and thereby erode its national security, but that seems to be the aim of some in Congress.

Then there is the SAVE America Act, Mr. Trump’s top legislative priority. The bill is designed to restrict federal elections to U.S. citizens only by requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration. Seventy-one percent of Americans support the bill, including 69% of independents and half of rank-and-file Democrats.

Yet Senate Majority Leader John Thune seems unable to pass it. He has had to spend most of his time simply getting the government funded (something, again, that’s still not done).

Getting the votes for the act has proved challenging, despite its commonsense appeal. Mr. Thune sought a “full and robust debate” on the legislation in March, yet that debate has not led to a vote.

Ending the filibuster, the Senate-imposed rule of requiring 60 votes for non-budgetary legislation, is something Mr. Thune is unwilling to do despite pressure from the White House. Perhaps it will end after Democrats win control of the Senate this fall.

For that is what seems to be congressional Republicans’ aim: to lose the House and the Senate by ignoring the will of the American people.

Squandering political power is really the only thing we can rely on congressional Republicans to deliver.

• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.