WASHINGTON — The current Congress is on track to be the worst ever at passing laws since modern record-keeping began, with three of its lawmakers failing to introduce a single bill, The Post has learned.
The divided House and Senate have managed to pass just 163 laws that garnered President Obama’s signature since the two-year term began in January 2013. At this rate, Congress will have no problem beating the previous record set during the 2011-2013 session in which 284 laws were passed. That was down from 385 laws passed in the 2009-2011 session.
“You are not getting a whole lot of bills introduced because lawmakers know the chances of success are minimal because so little is being done,” said Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “It’s more than sad; it’s pathetic.”
It’s not just the quantity of bills passed but also the quality that’s worrisome. Non-controversial measures, such as renaming post offices, have been passed while Congress dodged meaningful work on immigration, tax reform and counter-terrorism efforts in Syria.
“[Congress] is not dealing with the problems that people are concerned about,” said former Rep. Lee Hamilton, director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. “I’ve never seen it any worse in terms of public esteem for the Congress. I can’t find anybody who says a good word about it.”
Out of the 535-member Congress, three veteran House lawmakers didn’t manage to sponsor one piece of legislation this term: Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), James Clyburn (D-SC) and David Scott (D-Ga.), according to an analysis by The Post.
Another 58 full-term lawmakers introduced five bills or fewer, including Gregory Meeks (D-Queens).
Meeks’ bill sponsorship is the lowest among New York’s delegation. He sponsored only five pieces of legislation and none became law.
Meeks’ office declined comment and said it is removing The Post from its press list because it doesn’t like the stories written about him.
David Scott’s lack of bill sponsorships reflects his decision to turn to GOP authors to advance his priorities, since they are in power in the House.
“Congressman Scott is a doer, so he works in a bipartisan manner to achieve results,” said spokesman Michael Andel, noting Scott’s recent work on dairy policy.
Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, said the numbers also don’t reflect his efforts, including a key provision of the Farm Bill on rural energy savings.
“I am much more interested in making headway on issues than I am in making headlines about issues,” he said.