The record of the 117th Congress was marked by two conspicuous failures. First, in an understandable effort to avoid the mistakes of 2009, it spent too much money on the pandemic relief bill, which somewhat exacerbated (but did not create) our inflation problems. Second, it did not transform the dollar store economy by dramatically expanding the welfare state. As a result, Biden’s aspirations to become FDR for the 21st century were unrealized.
Given the tiny Democratic majorities in both houses, however, those dreams were completely unrealistic. With that in mind, the accomplishments of the last Congress were quite impressive. While the pandemic bill might have been a bit over the top, it did succeed in pushing down unemployment faster than most people have expected. The infrastructure bill was a bipartisan success. Some of the worst fears about the hijacking of presidential elections were addressed in last week’s massive spending bill. The IRA was a substantial step forward in the battle against climate change. And so on.
What you will notice here is that the GOP members in the Senate were actually fairly reasonable, which provides some justification for Biden’s positions on the filibuster and bipartisan government. The House, of course, is a different story, and will only get worse next year.
What can we expect from the 118th Congress? Chaos and vandalism, of course. The last two years are going to look like Brigadoon in a few months.