CONGRESS'S QUAGMIRE II
- Fix Federal Debt
- Dec 1, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 10, 2025
EVIDENCE: SEE SAW CONGRESS, REGULAR ORDER, FAILURE TO PREVENT AND SOLVE THE BIG PROBLEMS
PROBLEM
Over the past roughly 10-25 years, our U.S. Congress has evolved into a bipolar quagmire, this becoming increasingly obvious in the past several years.
OBJECTIVE
Analyze the root causes for the dysfunction of Congress and stimulate corrections.
ANALYSIS
There is plenty of evidence that Congress has become a constant two-party battle for control. The parties view winning and power as more important than the work for which their constituents elected them. All too often, we see validation of the axiom that the ends justify the means. Problem solving is a lost art; the big broken things remain broken – however obvious that may be.
What are the results? This polarization has brought the approval of Congress down below 20%. Respect for America has declined internally and abroad. The similar vote-getting power of the two parties has resulted in frequent “See Saws” – changes in who is in the majority – that result in massive swings in focus and reversals of what the other party just finished doing.
We have only two similar-sized parties, and the fact they have degenerated into the present bipolar and dysfunctional mode is not unnatural. It derives from our electoral systems – created by the same two parties. The founders of our nation were very suspicious of political parties, and several of them predicted our present circumstance of having two parties constantly at war with one another. See the Substack post of October 2, 2025, that quotes the strong words of Madison, Washington, and Adams on the risks of political parties. Political parties may be necessary, but competition from additional parties is badly needed to break up the duopoly.
We voters are in charge in America; the monkey is on our backs to get the quagmire problems fixed.
REGULAR ORDER
Regular Order is a term used to describe processes in Congress that take full advantage of the expertise of as many members as practicable, ensuring deliberation, care, compromise, and fair representation of the diverse constituencies of our great nation. It dignifies the individual members and greatly reduces concentration of power in the hands of a few party leaders. Members of Congress run for office to make laws, not to have to choose between acquiescence or crawling out on a limb knowing it will be chopped off.
In Congress, the term “regular order” refers to the traditional, rule-based, and transparent process for considering legislation — as opposed to ad hoc, leadership-driven, or expedited procedures that bypass normal steps. It will be obvious from the following detail how different regular order is from the “processes” used in recent years and now.
The words below are from ChatGPT because it did a good job with the explanation.
Here’s what regular order typically includes:
1. Committee Process
Referral to committee: A bill is introduced and sent to the committee(s) with jurisdiction.
Hearings: Committees hold public hearings to gather expert, agency, and stakeholder testimony.
Markups: Members debate, amend, and vote on the bill text in committee.
Reporting: If approved, the committee issues a written report explaining the bill’s intent, costs, and legal implications.
2. Floor Consideration
Rules and debate: In the House, the Rules Committee issues a rule governing debate and amendments; in the Senate, debate and amendment are typically open unless limited by unanimous consent or cloture.
Amendments: Members can offer germane amendments on the floor.
Recorded votes: Amendments and final passage are voted on transparently.
3. Bicameral and Conference Process
Both chambers act: The House and Senate each pass their own version of the bill.
Conference committee: Differences are negotiated in a formal conference with members from both chambers.
Conference report: The compromise bill is sent back for up-or-down votes in each chamber.
4. Budget and Appropriations Context
In the budget context, “regular order” means:
Congress passes a budget resolution (by April 15).
The 12 individual appropriations bills are marked up and passed by both chambers before the fiscal year begins (October 1).
Continuing resolutions or omnibus spending packages are avoided unless absolutely necessary.
5. Why It Matters
Regular order:
Encourages transparency and member participation.
Allows public input and minority party involvement.
Strengthens committee expertise.
Reduces reliance on leadership-driven omnibus or emergency measures.
6. When Regular Order Is Not Followed
In modern practice, Congress often deviates from regular order—using:
Omnibus bills combining many issues,
Continuing resolutions,
Closed rules (limiting amendments),
Budget reconciliation to bypass filibusters, or
Leadership-negotiated deals with little committee input.
FAILURE TO PREVENT & SOLVE BIG PROBLEMS
We citizens should expect Congress to prevent big problems! It is so much more traumatic, expensive, and unnecessary to wait for a sore to fester into a dangerous infection before taking any action.
We are squarely faced with many big problems that have been allowed to fester into ones that put America into various forms of jeopardy. Problems in that state must be solved, but negligence and delay greatly exacerbate the task of getting them under control.
This FAILURE… is the fundamental price we are paying, in cash and many other ways, for the irresponsible performance of our government, and the focus here is on Congress.
The price may well include:
Unnecessary hardships caused to people living with a problem that could have and should have been solved long ago – when it was first evident
Spending very large sums of taxpayers’ money, much larger than if the problem had been nipped in the bud
Being forced to spend excessive government resources, including the finite capacity of Congress, to work tardily for a problem’s solution
Creating distrust, anger, polarization, and frustration both among the public and members of Congress
Creating disquiet among other nations, friendly and not-so-friendly
A few long-known and yet-unsolved big problems are:
The huge and aggressively growing federal debt
The federal medical programs including Medicare
The federal retirement programs including Social Security
A comprehensive immigration policy
Overhaul of electoral methods for members of Congress to promote fair competition and reinstitution of sound internal processes including regular order
Members of Congress and citizens too have known for many years that these were huge and growing problems, but Congress ignored them or kicked the cans down the road, not doing the work they were elected to do. Citizens/voters/taxpayers have every right to be angry at the hardships and waste caused by Congress’s procrastination. It is a sad indictment on our entire society.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” - Albert Einstein
See the Substack series of posts on the Federal Debt:
Tom Mast
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