In 118th Congress, Republicans raised the bar for inept governance

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024 | 2 a.m.

The first session of the 118th Congress was an unmitigated disaster. After needing an unprecedented 15 ballots to elect Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the GOP-controlled House proceeded to accomplish … essentially nothing besides insane politically motivated investigations.

Well, almost nothing. It did oust McCarthy and leave the House paralyzed and without a leader for weeks in the middle of the session.

After all the turmoil surrounding leadership, we would’ve expected the new speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, to hit the ground running and move quickly to pass much needed legislation and funding related to the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza and more. At the very least we hoped he would usher through legislation to ensure elementary-aged schoolchildren have access to lunch at school.

Instead, we got nothing. Well, almost nothing.

The first session of the 118th Congress successfully enacted fewer than 30 bills — the fewest since at least 1973. Most of those were ceremonial or temporary in nature.

Congress did pass a defense budget and two continuing resolutions to keep the government open. Both resolutions did little more than kick the budgetary can down the road, and both passed over the objections of the far right.

The reason for the lack of productivity is beyond dispute: congressional Republicans, who spent more time grandstanding and showboating for social media than governing the country.

Almost all of the very few substantive laws to pass the House required Democrats to step in and save the country from the dysfunctional GOP that thinks an angry tweet fulfills its responsibility to govern.

Left to their own devices, House Republicans would have refused to pay the country’s bills, defaulted on the nation’s debt and plunged the U.S. financial system into chaos.

That’s not hyperbole. Remember, this summer’s fight over the debt limit wasn’t about increasing or decreasing spending in the future. It was about making a payment for money already spent on the nation’s credit card. Had Democrats failed to step in and support a compromise with McCarthy, the nation’s creditors would’ve done what any creditor would do if they stopped receiving payments: downgraded the nation’s credit rating and made borrowing far more expensive, or cut off access to credit altogether.

The same is true of temporary spending bills, which passed with more Democratic votes than Republican votes, even though Republicans held the majority in the House.

Without these bills, the government would have shut down, leaving millions of Americans who work tirelessly to make our federal government function unpaid and hundreds of millions of Americans — including seniors and veterans — who rely on the federal government for everything from health care to housing in dire financial straits.

The possibility of a shutdown is back on the table again this month and it’s likely that Democrats will once again be asked to come to the rescue of a nation abandoned by GOP leaders.

With that said, congressional Republicans didn’t fail at everything, especially when we consider a radical senator.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., succeeded in blocking military promotions and appointments, leaving several branches of the U.S. armed services without leadership for months on end. In the process, he threw military families into chaos because officers awaiting confirmation couldn’t purchase homes, help their spouses find jobs or enroll their kids in schools in the location of their new appointment.

By failing to support funding for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, congressional Republicans also successfully sent a message to dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that they can invade sovereign nations without consequence. It also tells our allies not to count on the GOP to stand up to monsters. The GOP’s failure was so clear that at his annual address to the country, Putin made joyful reference to America’s lack of support for Ukraine.For good reason, Putin considers GOP leadership and the U.S. far right as assisting his geopolitical goals.

And, while useful idiots, these are highly incompetent allies.

For instance, House Republicans also succeeded at setting a modern record for bills proposed by members of the majority party that were defeated in procedural or final votes, or died without receiving a vote due to lack of majority support. That’s right, they were killing their own bills at a record pace. Why? Because so many of the bills sprang from the latest social media outrage of the moment or Fox News hysteria rather than serious efforts to tackle the nation’s challenges.

That level of failure should not only anger those Americans who care more about good governance than partisanship, it should anger Republicans. After all, their party shot itself in the foot and failed to achieve any of its stated policy objectives.

When Democrats took control of Congress in 2020, they seized on the opportunity to demonstrate leadership by passing important legislation. The Democrat-controlled 117th Congress’ accomplishments include investments in U.S. manufacturing and infrastructure, increased environmental protections, expanded opportunities for STEM education, increased benefits for veterans and lower prescription drug prices for seniors and Americans with diabetes.

Congressional Republicans in the 118th Congress haven’t even tried to govern. Instead, they have focused on enacting retribution on their political enemies and launching wild investigations into unfounded conspiracy theories.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that Johnson will lead his party to be any more effective in 2024. He is an extremist and conspiracy theorist who has already shown that he is comfortable with chaos, cozy with authoritarians and extremists, and disinterested in doing the hard work of governing.

Voters of all political stripes should be appalled by the failure of the 118th Congress and, specifically, the failure of GOP legislators who refuse to govern. The American people deserve better than do-nothing grandstanders collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck while failing at even the most basic duties of their job. It’s up to the American people to create accountability at the polls.