Congress has left Washington after a historically unproductive year. 

The to-do list for January is massive and growing, with a shutdown deadline looming and war-torn allies overseas pleading for help. 

What You Need To Know

  • As of Thursday, lawmakers have passed only 27 bills that became law — a record low in modern times. 

  • Democrats blame the House GOP majority. Republicans point to the Senate, where Democrats are in charge. While others are pointing the fingers at themselves. 

  • When Congress returns in January, they face a massive to-do list. They will have just days to avoid a partial government shutdown, the FAA needs to be reauthorized and a new farm bill must be passed, plus Israel and Ukraine are pushing for help.
  • Political observers don't expect the pace to improve in the new year. “Fans of the Battle of Verdun are going to love Congress in 2024,” one told Spectrum News.

At the halfway mark of this two-year congressional term, lawmakers have passed only 27 bills that became law — a record low in modern times. 

That means they have a lot of ground to make up next year if they hope to match the pace of past congresses, where lawmakers routinely passed hundreds of bills that became law, according to data compiled by GovTrack.us. 

 

 

Democrats blame the House GOP majority. Republicans point to the Senate, where Democrats are in charge. While others are pointing the fingers at themselves. 

“This do-nothing Republican Congress right now is the least productive in modern American history,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader. 

“We are the House of kicking the can down the road. It's what we do every year. We're doing it right now. We're doing it today,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, during recent remarks from the House floor. 

For Congress, January could amount to a mad dash. 

They will have just days to avoid a partial government shutdown, with the first funding deadline set for Jan. 19. 

The FAA needs to be reauthorized, and a new farm bill, which includes nutrition programs like SNAP, still must be passed.

And then there’s the push to approve tens of billions of dollars in aid that Israel and Ukraine say they desperately need. That package is tied up in negotiations over border policy. 

But don’t expect Congress to necessarily make up for lost time in the new year, says Peter Loge, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. 

“Fans of the Battle of Verdun are going to love Congress in 2024,” he said, noting legislative leaders have competing political incentives next year, especially with an election in November. 

“In the House, Republicans are punished for cooperating with Democrats. In the Senate, Democrats have to maintain and protect some Democratic seats, and they probably want to get stuff done. But [Sen. Mitch] McConnell needs to make sure [Republicans] get the Senate back,” Loge said. 

As it stands right now, the House and the Senate are both not scheduled to return to Capitol Hill until the second week of January.