An Even Lazier Second Half Expected!

Republicans always seem to overplay their hand.

Purdue University released its public findings of the 119th Session of the United States Congress. It gave it a failing grade. With a Republican president, a Republican controlled House and Senate, this session only pass 38 bills that were signed into law by President Donald J. Trump and former president Joe Biden in his final weeks.

Days of decline will continue in 2026

Examples of democratic backsliding include:

• Free and fair elections are degraded;
• Liberal rights of freedom of speech, press and association decline, impairing the ability of the political opposition to challenge the government, hold it to account, and propose alternatives to the current regime;
• The rule of law (i.e., judicial and bureaucratic restraints on the government) is weakened, such as when the independence of the judiciary is threatened, or when civil service tenure protections are weakened or eliminated.
• An over-emphasis on national security as response to acts of terrorism or perceived antagonists.
• Politicians can't agree on funding essential needs and services which trigger spiteful pain on the citizens.

The government shutdown of 2025 was one of the longest in U.S. history. It lasted 43 days and put a huge cripple in democracy. It took six Democrats and two independent senators to save Republicans. In the House, it took at least six Democratic House members to help

High profile House members like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Eric Swalwell, Elise Stefanik, Ashley Hinson,  Jasmine Crockett, Harriet Hageman, Byron Donalds, Wesley Hunt, Seth Multon, Nancy Pelosi, Angie Craig and others are leaving for the private sector, resigning or seeking higher office.

Senators like Tina Smith, Thom Tillis, Cynthia Lummis, Joni Ernst, Dick Durbin, Gary Peters, Tommy Tuberville, Marsha Blackburn and others are leaving for the private sector, retiring or seeking higher office.

Many others like Ashley Moody and Jon Husted will have to fight to serve the remaining term.

A major accomplishment was the passage and signing of H.R. 1, known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which enacted the most significant tax legislation in nearly 40 years. Congress also aggressively used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn several "lame duck" environmental and other regulations from the final months of the Biden administration.

A contributing factor to this “lack of productivity” was President Donald Trump’s increasing use of executive orders, often controversial and subject to multiple court challenges. So far in his second term, Trump has signed 224 executive orders, compared to the 52 he signed in 2017 and more than he did during his entire first term. President Joe Biden signed 76 in 2021, his first year in office. Trump has currently signed more than 70 percent of the all the executive orders that Biden and President Barack Obama signed during their cumulative 12 years in office.

Mike Johnson and John Thune get headaches dealing with Republican members

The House set a record for fewest votes cast during a first year of a two-year congressional session for the entire 21 century thus far. The 362 votes they did cast were “barely half as many votes as in 2017, which was Trump’s first year in office” and another year when the GOP had majority control.

Kane noted that this was probably related to the “unusually large number of House members” who “have decided to leave the chamber either to retire or run for other office,” putting the House on pace to set a 21st-century record for retirements in one Congress.

national debt

So far, 24 Republicans and 19 Democrats are heading for the exit door, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who are retiring, Reps. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) who are running for the U.S. Senate, and Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) who are running for governor in their states. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) was running for New York governor but recently announced she was dropping out of the race and retiring from Congress as well, a remarkable fall after she gave up her leadership position when Trump nominated her as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations but then her nomination was withdrawn amid concerns about defending the GOP’s razor-thin majority.