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Today, most Americans would agree that Congress is doing quite a poor job. The Independent Center’s latest poll backs this up, as over half of respondents express disapproval of Congress's performance. This isn’t particularly surprising, given that the 118th Congress’s inefficiency and incompetence position it firmly among the least effective in American history.
Majorities are razor-thin in both the House and the Senate. The 118th Congress had a Republican majority of nine seats, and we all witnessed the chaos and drama that followed. From the marathon election of Representative Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker to his eventual downfall at the hands of a few mercurial Republicans after filing a “motion to vacate," the narrow margin fueled infighting and disunity.
For the 119th Congress, the Republican majority is now reduced to just five seats. In fact, this will be the slimmest House majority since the Great Depression. And with President-elect Trump’s audacious legislative agenda forthcoming, many are anticipating even more dysfunction.
But let’s engage in a thought experiment: what if the American electorate sent a small number of independents—let’s say five—to the House of Representatives?
The system may remain dysfunctional, but it’s also very possible that these independents could act as an effective counterbalance to the partisan polarization affecting our legislature.
Remember, Florida backbencher Matt Gaetz was able to flip Republican leadership on its head with his motion to oust McCarthy. All that it took was a few other Republicans looking for attention to disrupt the entire chamber.
Welcome to the era of narrow majorities. However, these narrow majorities could also have benefits.
The 119th Congress recently reelected Representative Mike Johnson as Speaker. During the 118th Congress, Kevin McCarthy faced pressure to make concessions in the House Rules to the Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus in order to secure the Speakership. If independents were present in the House, they could leverage and negotiate rules changes that might enhance the legislative process.
One of these rules aimed to give members of Congress more time to read bills. The rule stipulated that bills cannot be brought to a vote until at least 72 hours after members have had a chance to review them. Admittedly, this isn’t a new role and can be overridden with a two-thirds vote. However, independents looking to enhance the effectiveness of the process could utilize some variation of this.
Another rule change from the 118th Congress requires calculating the overall effect on inflation for bills that significantly impact the economy. For independents, inflation and affordability are major issues. This is one of the key reasons Donald Trump won the presidency, after all. Independents could exert disproportionate pressure on the two parties to prioritize these considerations in major spending bills.
The potential for Congressional revitalization with an independent interjection is limitless. As previously mentioned, if independents are necessary to form a majority, they are virtually assured a vital position at the negotiating table. They can act as key drivers of the Congressional agenda.
The potential is there. However, attempts at forging a bipartisan front have left much to be desired. The Problem Solvers Caucus consists of 59 members that are “committed to advancing common-sense solutions to key issues facing our nation.”
59 members is enough to exert a tremendous amount of influence on the governing majority. The issue? At the end of the day, most members still vote along party lines. In fact, internal tension is emerging amongst the group between Republicans and Democrats, with Republicans claiming to be more bipartisan than Democrats.
Partisan toxicity spares no one.
This is why true and authentic independents are the ones who can disrupt the system. Free from partisan baggage, independents can vote as true independents.
If recent Congressional dysfunction has taught us anything, it’s that it takes little to derail the system in this age of hyper-polarization and partisanship.
Independents have the opportunity to do just that, supporting a Congress that more accurately represents the interests of the American people as a whole.
