OPINION: Let’s Talk About Why Congress Comes First in the Constitution

Something interesting happened as Republican U.S. House members who represent conservative districts returned to Washington, D.C. after a recent break. As you may have seen or read, several of them confronted “town hall” crowds at home that were upset about the turmoil facing federal employees, angry about Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and on edge about the extent and depth of the GOP’s budget-cutting plans, especially involving Medicaid. The result: Georgia’s Rick McCormick told reporters, “I’m concerned that maybe we’re moving a little bit too fast.” Another member, Wisconsin Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, told NBC that he and his colleagues need to know more specifics about what’s being done by Musk and Trump Administration officials. “We don’t know what they’re looking at, and we don’t know what the numbers are,” he said. “I’m learning about this when I see a broadcast as much as anyone else right now, because we haven’t been briefed on it.” Neither of those is a statement of congressional strength and resolve. They’re a recognition of what ordinary Americans — the concerned Republicans showing up at those town halls, the Democrats besieging their legislators to be more forceful in confronting the actions taken by the Trump Administration — know full well: In our representative democracy, it’s our members of Congress who carry our voice to Washington, D.C. And they do more than that. It’s their responsibility to fund the government — and by this I mean not “the government” as a vague entity, but every agency and department and nook and cranny, which means knowing what those offices do, why they do it, and how they go about it. It’s their responsibility to oversee those agencies and departments, and make sure they’re acting both according to the law and in the best interests of the American people. In short, it’s the responsibility of members of Congress to keep an eye on the details of how agencies are being run and how taxpayers’ money is being spent. Who gave Congress this responsibility? It’s in the Constitution, our nation’s founding document. In fact, Congress’s roles come first in the Constitution, and there’s a reason for this: If, like the founders, you believe that a country is at its strongest and most vigorous when its citizens have a direct say through elections in who governs them, and a direct line to the halls of power through their representatives, then you make it clear that’s where your priorities lie by putting Congress first. And you make it the equal of the President, because you also believe that a balance of power keeps any single branch from running amok. For some time, Congress has struggled to fulfill its role as a co-equal branch. Presidents are always happy to chip away at congressional power. The issues our country faces are complex and politically charged, and members of Congress over the years have been all too willing to let the White House take the heat. The result is that it’s gotten into bad habits that have eroded its ability to act with the vigor it needs: like omnibus bills that bypass the committee hearings and input by rank-and-file members that would make it a truly representative body; oversight that’s concerned with scoring political points, not with the efficiency and effectiveness of executive-branch agencies; a work schedule that lets members raise money and boost their national profiles, but doesn’t require much in the way of actual legislating. But you can lament a Congress that’s too often gotten off track without believing that when it comes to steering this country it should be bypassed. The Trump Administration has embarked on a wholesale reordering of our country. At a minimum, Congress should be hauling DOGE staff in front of committees to press them on precisely what they’re doing, why they’re dismantling crucial government functions — including those that lie at the heart of our national security — and precisely what they intend. Many Americans believe that we’re already weaker as a nation than we were at the start of the year. It’s up to Congress to pay attention and do something about it.        

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Lee Hamilton, 93, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south-central Indiana.