Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“I get why Congress could be a good gig for a social climber or a rich dude looking for flattery and prestige and stock tips. As an entity for managing the country and meeting its challenges, today’s Congress is rather inert, especially when the biggest challenges come from within. Since the beginning of Trump’s term one year ago, I have been studying the tools available to Congress to assert itself as the primary institution of American government, expressed in Article I of the Constitution. Sadly, most of those tools have not found their way out of committee. Democrats shut down the government last October, for instance, but did not demand that they would only agree to pass appropriations if they were guaranteed to be spent.” (01/21/25)
https://prospect.org/2026/01/21/so-cute-how-you-write-laws-congress-appropriations-ice/