Lawmakers are hoping they can reassert their role after a year of President Trump amassing more power than ever before.
The Trump administration has pushed to gradually consolidate power throughout 2025, often sidelining Congress in its policymaking. It has unliterally gutted or shrunk the scope of federal agencies, implemented tariffs, canceled congressionally appropriated spending and conducted military strikes in the Caribbean, all without direct immediate congressional authorization.
The Hill’s Al Weaver and Emily Brooks report members of Congress are wondering if any changes will happen in 2026, particularly with the midterm elections approaching.
Democrats and some Republicans have raised issues with how the executive-legislative relationship has gone.
“I don’t know that it’s getting better,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). “Seems to be getting worse.”
The productivity of Congress has gradually declined, and signs indicate more and more lawmakers are looking to leave. The House and Senate set a modern record this year with the lowest legislative output in the first year of a new presidency, with fewer than 40 bills passed, according to data from C-SPAN and Purdue University.
The most significant legislative accomplishment of the year was the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law in July.
The law extended and expanded tax cuts implemented during Trump’s first term, added funding for defense and immigration enforcement and cut spending on Medicaid and food assistance.
But it was seen as one of congressional Republicans’ only chances at enacting their legislative priorities this year. Some Republicans have discussed a second reconciliation bill, which can pass by a simple majority, ahead of the midterms, but they acknowledge they won’t pass anything as substantive, Weaver and Brooks report.
The divide between factions of the GOP in Congress also contributed to gridlock.
“A conference that has Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) are never going to produce meaningful legislation on things like that … on things that can pass with all Republican support. It’s never gonna happen,” one GOP operative said.
Meanwhile, the number of retirements in the House and Senate announced so far are outpacing those from the past four legislative election cycles, according to Ballotpedia. And it is likely to increase in the new year.
Still, lawmakers said they view the appropriations process, constitutionally under their purview, as a way to assert their relevance.
▪ NPR: A look back at Congress’s year.
