The Liberty Daily 
As America is engaged in a five-month military conflict with Iran and the economy has been suffering, Congress has responded with predictable inaction. It is little wonder that Americans give Congress a 10% approval rating, with 86% expressing disapproval.
As Carl Hulse, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, noted, “It’s a great American pastime to hate Congress.” However, this hatred is justified. The 119th Congress has barely done anything, enacting just 104 pieces of legislation, compared to 443 in the first two years of President Donald Trump’s first term.
In the 119th Congress, there was a 43-day full government shutdown, the longest in history, and a 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, the most protracted for any federal department.
In addition, there have been mysterious absences from Congress this year. A Republican congressman from New Jersey, Thomas Kean, was absent for four months battling depression. During this time, his constituents and colleagues were unaware of his condition. Currently, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been absent for over a month with a variety of medical issues and mounting questions about his condition.
Because Congress has been unable to act, President Trump has been forced to issue 268 Executive Orders, more than the total from his entire first term and nearly as many as President Barack Obama issued in his two terms in office.
Trump has filled the void left by the do-nothing Congress. As the national debt explodes to $39.5 trillion and Social Security faces a fiscal cliff in a few years, the U.S. House of Representatives prepares for another long vacation starting on Thursday. The House will return on August 31, then work for only a few days, leaving again on September 3 for a Labor Day recess until September 14.
Both houses of Congress will be on recess for almost the entire month of October and the first week of November. Overall, in 2026, the House is scheduled to work only 119 days, while the Senate is scheduled to work only 158 days.
Rank-and-file members of Congress enjoy a relaxed work schedule while earning $174,000 per year, as well as generous pension and health care benefits, death gratuity payments to heirs, and significant office allowances. Congressional leadership earns more; for example, the House Speaker’s salary is $223,500 annually.
Although salaries have been frozen for several years, members of Congress still earn almost 300% more than the average American. Also, this coveted political position allows access to information beyond the reach of most Americans. Thus, members of Congress trade stocks at a much greater level than average investors. This “inside information” allows some members of Congress to earn millions of dollars on stock trades.
Several bills have been introduced, such as the Restore Trust in Congress Act, H.R. 5106, to prohibit members of Congress, as well as their spouses and dependents, from owning or trading stocks while in office.
Banning congressional stock trading is part of the 14-point agenda proposed by U.S. Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX). Roy is calling on Republicans in Congress to pass his ambitious plan before the midterm election.
Other items in Roy’s plan include codifying Trump border security policies permanently, enacting the SAVE America Act, ending warrantless surveillance and government and corporate use of technology to spy on Americans, reducing debts and deficits, eliminating foreign aid, and passing a constitutional amendment for term limits.
All of Roy’s proposals are common-sense measures that should be implemented, as they would not only energize Republicans but also restore Americans’ faith in Congress. Unfortunately, with multiple vacations upcoming, there is precious little time for Congress to enact Roy’s bold agenda.
While such inaction is expected, it is unacceptable. As Roy noted, “We (Republicans) were elected to deliver what we promised the American people, not to campaign for re-election. Delivering on decisive policy mandates is the best way to grow a majority…we simply have not done enough.”
Roy is exactly right: Congress has “not done enough,” except to preserve privileges such as stock trades and prevent reforms such as term limits from being passed.
It is no wonder that Congress is held in such contempt by the American people, as it refuses to pass legislation with strong popular support. For example, according to a 2024 YouGov survey, 77% of Republicans and 73% of Democrats favor banning elected officials from trading stocks. An even greater majority of Americans, 80%, support congressional term limits.
As the week ended, Republicans were squabbling over legislation to benefit our nation’s veterans. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, H.R. 9237, was pulled from the House floor, delaying its passage for several weeks.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is also trying to garner support for a $95 billion emergency spending bill that would include $73 billion for the Pentagon, $12 billion for agriculture to help struggling farmers, and $10 billion for state grants to implement election integrity measures included in the SAVE America Act.
As usual, this spending hodgepodge will not be offset by any spending cuts. None of the anti-fraud proposals favored by conservative Republicans will be included in the legislation. Thus, it will add to the ballooning federal deficit. As U.S. Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) posted, “Bankrupt nations are difficult to defend.”
Despite Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, real reform has proven elusive. All the GOP majorities have done is grow the debt, continue with bloated programs, and shun much-needed reform.
Not surprisingly, a new Washington Post-Ipsos survey indicates that “Republican supporters just aren’t as energized to turn up at the polls.”
In 2024, Republican voters delivered a congressional majority, expecting the Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda to be realized. Instead, Congress delivered more vacation time, more stock trading, more debt, no term limits, and no spending cuts to tackle government fraud.
Unless there is a remarkable turnaround in Congress in the next few months, Americans can expect the chaos to worsen when Democrats win control in the midterm elections.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian, and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from 1-2 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is the President and General Manager of WGSO Radio, a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance, and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and at Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com.
