The current Congress isn’t the least-effective we’ve seen in a while, but it’s close.
The Pew Research Center says the 113th Congress has passed only 24 bills dealing with major policy or appropriations. The 107th and 112th Congress passed 21 and 19 similar bills at the same point.
Researchers ruled out, for example, laws that rename post offices or authorize commemorative coins.
The 112th Congress wound up passing a total of 208 “substantive” bills that became law. It was still labeled the least productive Congress ever by The Washington Post.
The 106th Congress accomplished much more. Under former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), 463 “substantive” bills became law between 1999 and 2000.
Pew noted there’s been a gradual decrease in the volume of legislation since that period. In a July poll, Pew found 70 percent of Americans have a “very” or “mostly” unfavorable view of Congress.
