President Donald Trump’s expansion of executive branch authority has famously met little resistance from Republican lawmakers, who, despite controlling both the House and Senate, set a 21st-century record last year for fewest votes taken in the first year of a two-year Congress. And 2026 isn’t shaping up to be much better. Trump is in the driver’s seat on policy issues, so without clear direction from him on priorities, the GOP-led Congress is gearing up to spin its wheels.
It is, in brief, a form of political malpractice that borders on madness in a midterm election year.
In his record-long State of the Union address this week, Trump had few asks of his fellow Republicans. That is, he spent more time trumpeting past successes than calling for legislation or, for that matter, proposing specific solutions to the problems he rattled off. While it was perhaps classic Trump to focus a nationally televised address on pet issues and grievances, his approach was effectively at odds with the original purpose of this particular presidential address.
The details packed into a written overview of the country’s well-being might bore some audiences to tears — but would be greatly useful to a legislature that cared about governing the country. This brings us back to today’s Washington and its do-little Congress.
This is a preview of Hayes Brown’s latest column. Read the full column here.
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