(NewsNation Now) — “Congressional gridlock” has been a popular term for years now, but does it really exist? Are bills introduced into the House or Senate doomed before they’re even read into the record? A look at the track record for this year might lead one to think so.
According to NewsNation’s Aaron Nolan, less than 1 percent of the bills brought up for consideration this year were passed into law. That means that 71 have been signed by the president out of 11,208 introduced for consideration by the House and Senate. You’d almost have better odds competing on “The Voice” than you would trying to pass a bill.
Now, there have been some fairly important pieces of legislation passed this year. There was a huge COVID relief package, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, that by and large saved the economy and kept the nation on its feet during the pandemic. There was a bill making Juneteenth, the day Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and notified the state that all slaves were freed.
There was also a reform of U.S. hate crime laws, making it easier to report them, track them and prosecute them. The bill was sparked by a dramatic surge in attacks on Asian Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and evidence about the origin of the pathogen.
And most recently, the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill squeaked through both houses and was signed by the president. It’s much smaller than originally proposed, but will still provide desperately needed funds for work on the nation’s crumbling bridges, highways, water and sewer systems and much more.
So, what happens to the bills that never make it to the president? 93% are introduced and sent to committee … and are never heard from again. Some 300 this year have become simple resolutions, but not laws. Simple resolutions are matters kept within one house, and can cover anything from advice to the president to expressing condolences.
Not surprisingly, Congress tends to be most active in the last two months of its term, so expect to see a lot more going on late in 2022.