WASHINGTON – When it comes to making laws, this Congress is on track to be the least productive since the Great Depression.
This year, only 22 bills made it into law, compared to the 308 that passed both chambers in 2022 and were signed by President Biden.
One of the bills that made it to President Biden’s desk for signature this year was sponsored by a member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, Rep. Pete Stauber, R-8th District. It would require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish a task force that would offer recommendations for updating the nation’s antiquated Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, which sends alerts to pilots to let them know of conditions that could affect the safety of their flights.
But mostly the 118th Congress failed to come to an agreement on almost everything. It failed to pass a budget, it failed to pass a five-year farm bill, it failed to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration bill – which aimed at improving safety in the air by modernizing airport systems and hiring and training more air traffic controllers.
Aid to Ukraine and Israel is also threatened, as the House adjourned Thursday for the year without an agreement on an emergency package that would help those war-torn nations.
“I think we are used to seeing Congress struggle, but this year seems to have an extra layer of dysfunction,” said Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Binder said she rarely judges a Congress in its first year, since some legislation takes time to reach the finish line. But she said this Congress is unique in that it could not finish work on some of the basics needed to keep the country running, including funding for the federal government.
There are a lot of reasons for what some are calling a “do nothing Congress.”
One is that the U.S. House is controlled by Republicans and the U.S. Senate is controlled by Democrats. And both parties have slim majorities in those chambers.
But it’s hyper-partisanship, and a change to the U.S. House rules that makes it easier to depose the chamber’s leader, that also kept bills from becoming law.
That rule change led to the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October because he angered some members of his party by making a deal with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a federal government shutdown. New Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, is under the same threat.
So, the U.S. House has passed dozens of bills that have had only GOP support – and will never see the light of day in the U.S. Senate.
Binder said the “sheer dysfunction going on in the House Republican conference” where the hard-right House Freedom Caucus is often at odds with GOP leadership, is much to blame for the lack of progress.
Johnson on Thursday decided to seek Democrats’ help in passing the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy for the Pentagon. Reps. Brad Finstad, R-1st, and Michelle Fischbach, R-7th, were among 73 Republicans who voted against it. The reliance on Democrats to pass key legislation is expected to cause problems for the new House leadership. Biden is expected to sign the bill, which would make it the 23rd in this Congress to become law.
Still, members of Congress are under pressure to indicate to their constituents that they’ve been productive, even if that has been a challenge this year.
For instance, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6th District, announced in press releases and a newsletter to constituents that he had procured $2.24 million for New Germany’s wastewater treatment facility, another $2.24 million for St. Michael’s wastewater treatment plant, and $1.52 million for improvements to Otsego’s drinking water and wastewater facilities.
The problem is those special projects, or earmarks, were included in the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill that was rejected by the U.S. Senate. The bill also provoked a veto threat from the White House because – among other things – it would severely cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and hamper the administration’s ability to draft regulations under the Clean Air Act.
So, Emmer’s earmarks and those of all of Minnesota’s members of Congress, are in limbo until Congress passes legislation that would fund the federal government until the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, 2024.
That’s not to say Minnesota’s members of Congress did not introduce lots of bills this year. Emmer introduced eight bills and resolutions, Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, sponsored six, Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, and Michelle Fischbach, D-7th District, each introduced 11 pieces of legislation.
Reps. Dean Phillips, D-3rd District, and Angie Craig, D-2nd District, each introduced 15 bills and resolutions, and Rep. Brad Finstad, R-1st District, the newest member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, sponsored 19.
There was much more activity in the U.S. Senate, where Sen. Tina Smith sponsored 45 bills and resolutions and Sen. Amy Klobuchar sponsored 120.
Minnesota’s members of Congress also co-sponsored dozens of bills, and some of the legislation they sponsored and co-sponsored may win final approval in Congress and be signed into law by President Biden next year. But much of the legislation sponsored and co-sponsored in Congress, about 95%, never becomes law.
While their legislation languished this year, Minnesota’s lawmakers said they had other accomplishments.
For instance, Craig’s office said the lawmaker led a successful, bipartisan push to secure Food and Drug Administration approval of over-the-counter distribution of Narcan, the drug that combats opioid overdoses. Craig’s office also said her legislation to make insulin more affordable has gained 91 co-sponsors this year.
Meanwhile, Omar said “this year has been built around co-governance with the people of the 5th District of Minnesota.”
“We’ve held over 20 town halls and roundtables throughout the district,” she said.
Omar also noted the delivery of $24 million for several special projects she sought in the last Congress, the opening of a new district 0ffice at Sabathani Community Center, and the introduction of a bill modeled after state legislation that aims to address “the crisis of missing and murdered Black and Brown women.”
Klobuchar’s office noted the senator’s work to secure new C-130J military transport planes for the Minnesota National Guard and committee approval of seven bills she sponsored, including one aimed at combatting drug shortages.
“From finally giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices to securing funding for broadband expansion and passing bipartisan legislation to improve air-travel safety, I’m proud to have worked across the aisle this year to get things done for Minnesotans,” Klobuchar said.
Smith’s office said some of the senator’s “biggest wins” this year included helping to push the confirmation of Jessica Looman, the former executive director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council to lead the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, and helping steer hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds from the Department of Energy for the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, a clean-energy project the senator said will create more than 1,500 good-paying Minnesota jobs.
McCollum’s office cited the congresswoman’s high-profile campaign against what it called “dangerous, extreme social policy riders in FY 24 Appropriations bills,” including anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ measures.
They also said McCollum and her staff helped hundreds of constituents resolve problems with their passports, Social Security benefits, tax refunds, and other issues.
Meanwhile, at the end of this session of Congress, Republicans were blaming Democrats and Democrats were blaming Republicans for the inability to approve aid to Ukraine and Israel and get other things done.
“Lawmakers are good at claiming credit for things, but they are also very good at casting blame,” Binder said.
GOP escalates Biden probe
House Republicans made their inquest into President Biden official this week with a vote to formalize what they have been doing for months – trying to find any grounds for impeaching the president.
Minnesota’s lawmakers voted along party lines on the impeachment inquiry bill, which was approved by the U.S. House 221-212 on Wednesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the vote was needed to give the committee greater authority to enforce subpoenas, like the one it served on the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden showed up Wednesday as the subpoena mandated but refused to answer questions behind closed doors, saying his questioning should be in public so Republican lawmakers could not lie about or manipulate and misrepresent his testimony.
Rep. Tom Emmer, R- 6th District, managed to persuade moderate Republicans who represent districts won by Biden in 2020 to vote for the impeachment inquiry.
But some of those same moderate GOP lawmakers indicated they may not vote to impeach the president.
For instance, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, told reporters he doesn’t believe there’s evidence Biden committed high crimes or misdemeanors, which the U.S. Constitution established as a cause for impeachment.
Minnesota Democrats denounced the inquiry as a political stunt.
“This inquiry involves unsubstantiated claims that President Biden used his position to financially benefit himself and his family and to protect his son, Hunter Biden,” said Rep. Dean Phillips, D-3rd District, who is running against Biden in the Democratic presidential primaries.
Phillips said in a statement he would “maintain an open mind should real evidence of wrongdoing on President Biden’s part be uncovered,” but would “not support impeaching a president over lies and falsehoods.”
Meanwhile Minnesota’s Republican lawmakers were all in on the inquiry.
“With (the) vote, we have reasserted Congress’ authority to gather all the necessary evidence to complete its investigation and get the American people the answers they deserve,” said Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-7th District, in a statement.
And Rep. Brad Finstad, R-1st District, in a fundraising appeal said “the bottom line is that the Biden ‘family business’ stinks worse than anything I’ve seen in the whole DC Swamp, and that’s saying something.”
Your questions and comments
A reader, who said she is “a onetime Dean Phillips admirer and happy constituent,” but is “now outraged and mystified and generally seething,” had some kind words about the my story this week on the congressman’s campaign to unseat Biden:
“Your roundup of the whole Phillips situation is perfect, even if it does increase my teeth grinding by another 100%!
How does this new and reckless Dean not see himself as a thumb on the scale — on the TRUMP side? Visions of Nader are dancing in my head…”
Another reader, who perhaps read my piece about Rep. Angie Craig’s bill that would bar lawmakers who are expelled from Congress from receiving a lifetime pension, had this question:
“What % of regular Minnesotans are working for an employer that offers pensions at all?”
I found out that about 8% of Minnesotans receive a public pension. I could not determine how many Minnesotans working for private employers receive a pension. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics said about 15% of full-time private industry workers in the United States had a defined benefit pension plan in 2022.
Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.
And before you go, a quick year-end reminder from our hardworking membership manager: Member donations are crucial to the work of our nonprofit newsroom. Please help us continue bringing you stories on the issues that matter to Minnesota by becoming a member or renewing your membership today. Thank you!
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