For many Americans, the latest allegations of seedy behavior by former Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) are just another reason to feel disgust toward Congress. But these scandals may be only the visible tip of a much deeper rot.
Lawmakers themselves have described the institution as a “cesspool,” a “swamp,” and a “sewer.” It has become the largest frat house on the national campus—a place where misconduct rarely carries consequences.
The question is: When do taxpayers who fund this institution get to say “Enough is enough”? Between sexual scandals, government shutdowns, lavish travel, and endless recesses, the public is left wondering what value Congress actually provides.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) noted last December that over half of all members are millionaires, adding that many have no experience living paycheck to paycheck. But she left out a key detail: how some members amass fortunes through stock trades unavailable to average Americans. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for instance, reportedly earned more than $130 million in stock profits over her 38-year career—a return of 16,930 percent. Most Americans don't even know what insider trading means, but Congress could offer a seminar on the subject.
Beyond the culture of sexual harassment and questionable stock trades, the daily spectacle in Congress often resembles petulant children in a sandbox. This week’s example was Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who faced a brutal grilling by both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Many Democratic senators seemed less interested in his answers than in virtue signaling and exacting payback for his defection to the Trump administration. But Republicans are equally guilty when a Democrat is in the White House. The public always pays the price.
So would Americans be better off without Congress? Many think so. But it’s not possible—because lawmakers would have to vote to limit their own power or abolish the institution. That’s about as likely as a bipartisan budget deal.
Imagine Congress as an out-of-control machine shop producing nothing useful, generating deafening noise. Then step outside into a quiet meadow. That brief respite is the only escape the public has from a body that flouts the rules it imposes on everyone else.
