The engine of representative democracy hasn’t exactly been firing on all cylinders. In fact, it has been sputtering along in recent times, spewing out smoke and showing signs of complete and utter failure. The people who are supposed to be served, American citizens, are dissatisfied with both chambers of Congress and believe, for the most part, that it is irredeemably corrupt – lazy, too. In October, Pew Research found that the 119th Congress of 2025-2026 passed 102 “substantive” laws and 12 “ceremonial” laws, making it one of the least productive Congresses in the past 40 years. The 118th Congress was even worse. But compare that to the 100th Congress, from 1987 to 1989; during this time, 388 substantive laws were enacted, according to Pew. Congress doesn’t even bother to fulfill basic constitutional duties anymore, like voting to authorize war.
What isn’t failing, however, is the Swamp. More specifically, the way in which both private and public interests – a tech corporation, a Venezuelan oil company, a shipping port run by a local municipality in California – can secure favorable changes to the regulatory landscape using lobbyists. Of course, these entities can use lobbyists to get to lawmakers, who can then rewrite bills and change laws. But how many laws are actually getting passed these days? Precious few. So, instead, lobbyists go straight to the Executive Branch and its myriad cabinet departments to secure what their clients paid for. This is the way government really works now, and until today, no one elected to Congress had any truly bold ideas to fix it and make it more responsive to the needs of the American people rather than the needs of those who can afford jaw-dropping lobbying fees.