Congress Introduces 11,000 Bills Every Two Years and Passes About 3.5% of Them
Sasse says only four times in 44 years has a budget put more than a third of federal dollars through the normal process, and he says that is why shutdown fights repeat.
Uncommon Knowledge · Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, and the Future of America | Peter Robinson | Hoover InstitutionEvery two years, members of Congress introduce about 11,000 bills. About 380 of them pass, or about 3.5%.
Ben Sasse, a former U.S. senator, says the founders assumed the people in office would want to act, and that "the three branches would be jealous for their prerogatives" and ambitious for power, with checks to make action hard. Instead, he says, many lawmakers mainly want attention for themselves and are desperate to keep their jobs by upsetting no one.
Sasse ties that inaction to spending fights. Congress is supposed to pass 12 spending bills a year, and usually does not do it on time. Only four times in 44 years has a budget put more than a third of federal dollars through that normal process, he says. So Washington ends up choosing between funding the government at last year's level or cutting it to zero, which he says is no way any household, business, or nonprofit would run its budget.
Questions people ask
What is a continuing resolution?
A continuing resolution keeps funding going at last year's levels for a set period when the regular spending bills are not finished. It avoids a shutdown but leaves priorities and amounts largely unchanged. Lawmakers often pass one or several in a row before agreeing on fuller funding.
Why introduce so many bills if most fail?
Many bills are statements of priorities or messages to voters and interest groups, not serious attempts at lawmaking. Party leaders decide which few bills get hearings and votes. A bill must also pass both the House and Senate in identical form and be signed by the president, so most never advance.
What actually happens in a government shutdown?
When funding lapses, agencies deemed nonessential close or cut back services, and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed or work without pay. Essential work such as military operations, air traffic control, and Social Security payments generally continues. The shutdown ends when Congress restores funding.