After the DHS Shutdown 

As the Senate inches towards a vote to end the partial government shutdown, the third funding lapse in less than six months, Americans are enduring impossibly long lines at airports, possible delays in disaster relief, and more. Such dysfunction has become too frequent, reflecting Congress’s ineffectiveness. But the institution is not beyond repair. Recent spending fights with the White House over Department of Homeland Security funding, along with rare but forceful stands against executive overreach, suggest Congress can reassert its constitutional authority. To effectively legislate and check the executive branch, it’s more urgent than ever that Congress reclaim its power. 

 Yes, Congress was designed to be slow and deliberative, but even by the framers’ standards, it is not working properly. Before the past six months, there had only been three shutdowns in 30 years. But this is only a symptom of a larger problem: Congress spends less time meeting and legislating than ever before. According to an analysis by ABC News, Congress met on average 162 days a year in the 1960s and 1970s, and 139 days a year in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2006, the House met just over 70 days. To top it off, a 2013 joint study by the Congressional Management Foundation and the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that members spend only about a third of their time in Washington legislating, and almost 20 percent of their time on “political activities,” including fundraising.  

 Congressional polarization, as measured by roll-call votes, is, of course, at a high not seen since the pre-Civil War period. Today, many bills are passed by party-line votes, leading to gridlock and legislative inefficiency. You can see this in the breakdown of votes by party for two major healthcare bills in different decades. In 1965, Medicare passed the House with the support of 237 Democrats and 70 Republicans, while in 2010, the Affordable Care Act passed with no Republican votes. Moreover, in 2025, Congress held 362 roll call votes, compared to over 1,000 in the early 2000s, making it the year with the second-lowest number of roll call votes in the last 25 years. This is second only to the COVID-19 period.  

 Congress is not only working less but has also relinquished its constitutional authority. For decades, Congress has ceded power to the executive, a process accelerated by Donald Trump’s presidency. Though the Constitution grants Congress the power of the purse, presidents in recent decades have played an increasingly central role in budget negotiations. Trump doubled down on this trend with attempts to bring back “impoundment authority,” claiming the president can decline to spend money that Congress has already appropriated. Just last year, the administration defied Congress by moving to cut nearly $5 billion in approved foreign aid.  

The Constitution also grants Congress alone the power to declare war. Despite this, U.S. presidents from both parties have undertaken congressionally unauthorized hostilities in recent decades. Trump’s attacks on Venezuela and Iran, conducted without congressional approval, represent a doubling down of this presidential usurpation of power.  

But there are signs Congress is reclaiming power. The President’s recent attacks have prompted a renewed push by members to check executive military action, including by forcing debates and votes under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a law aimed at curbing unauthorized military force. Congress has been leveraging its spending power to push back against executive overreach. Members passed a $50 billion foreign aid bill earlier this year, countering the president’s attempts to cut it. 

And Congress can use this momentum to prevent future presidential power grabs. To further insulate war powers from abuse by any one president, Congress should repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. This law was passed after the 9/11 attacks to authorize war with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Still, presidents of both parties have stretched it to justify hostilities against an ever-growing list of adversaries. It should also continue to reclaim its power of the purse by fighting illegal “impoundments” and ensuring that taxpayer dollars go to the services they were approved for. One way Congress can do this is by passing the Congressional Power of the Purse Act, which closes loopholes that allow presidents to manipulate the appropriations process. 

 At the same time, Congress must stop unilaterally disarming. It now has 120 times less funding than the executive branch and lacks what it needs to legislate and conduct oversight. In the 1990s, Congress defunded entire support agencies, such as the Office of Technology Assessment, and dramatically cut funding for agencies like the Congressional Research Service. After building up offices such as the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Technology Assessment to counter the executive branch’s power, it has not kept pace. The recent Supreme Court Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, which limited Congressional discretion to offload regulatory authority to federal agencies and repealed the “Chevron doctrine,” means that Congress must ramp up to legislate with greater specificity. It needs to increase its own funding to dramatically expand staffing for personal offices, committees, and congressional support agencies, ensuring it has the resources and expertise to legislate and conduct effective oversight. It should also address the pressures members face to fundraise rather than legislate by passing campaign finance reform that limits the money flooding into campaigns.  

The government should serve the people. Strengthening Congress, the linchpin of American democracy, is critical to fighting executive overreach and delivering the government Americans deserve.  

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