Aisle 47 – Installment 4 – Creating a Functional Congress

This is the fourth installment in the short blog series, Cleanup on Aisle 47, which is meant to present ideas on rebuilding and strengthening U.S. democracy.

The legislative branch of the U.S. government is currently broken. When Donald Trump first served as president and was impeached twice, he should have been removed from office, but Republicans, who were and still are in the majority, were so much in thrall or in fear of Trump that they refused to oust him. They abdicated the authority and the power of the checks and balances the legislature is supposed to wield over the executive branch.

This was a rebuke of the people, the voters they purport to be representing. Because Congress members come from the states, they are closer to the people than the president or members of SCOTUS. They are supposed to represent our interests, not those of the president. But, here we are. Republicans still refuse to hold the Trump regime responsible for their clearly criminal, blatantly unconstitutional actions.

I think a big part of the problem is the fact that we have only 2 major, viable political parties. This seems to be by design, with both Republicans and Democrats attempting to keep any funding that might go to alternative parties. It also sets up a situation where the country is polarized because there are only 2 choices. (Are you as sick as I am of the media telling us we are polarized and showing us red and blue maps during election season, as though everything is cut and dried? I want to shout, “We’re all purple!” https://maryewarner.com/2017/08/05/bring-on-the-purple-to-bring-us-together/)

To improve the functioning of Congress, I would require 3 to 5 viable political parties, so they more closely reflect the complexity and nuances in the people. They would have to build coalitions across party lines. Let’s get rid of polarization by getting rid of only 2 choices.

If we have 3 to 5 parties within Congress, we’ll have to adjust the structure of the majority and minority leaders, which might get us a better functioning, more cooperative Congress.

We also need to limit the money political parties and candidates can spend on their campaigns. Our Congress people should not be bought by the wealthy, corporations, or dark money PACs (political action committees). Needing excessive amounts of money to campaign means that candidates often have to trade their values and those of their constituents for those providing the cash. It also shuts out all but the wealthiest candidates or those who are willing to spend all their time fund raising, rather than governing. Placing limits on campaign spending would also cut down on special interest groups trying to sway the elections in other states. We need public funding of campaigns, with a strict limit on any additional funding.

Further, we need to overturn Citizens United, which gave corporations the same free speech rights as individuals and allowed them to spend unlimited amounts of money in political campaigns. (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/558/310/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC) “Corporate personhood” needs to be abolished. Corporations are not human beings and shouldn’t have the same rights as people because they control more resources and are more powerful than individuals, which gives them an out-sized influence on elections and policy. (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained)

I would also limit the number of terms House and Senate members can serve. We don’t need career politicians who get entrenched and have time to steer policies and funding to their political donors. Maybe 3 terms for House members (6 years total) and 2 terms for Senators (12 years). (Check out https://legalclarity.org/congressional-terms-lengths-limits-and-qualifications/ for a discussion of Congress’s term limits. We would have to amend the Constitution to implement term limits.)

Term limits would also limit, if not prevent, situations like that with Senator Mitch McConnell, where he was taken to a hospital in June 2026 and no one is quite sure of his medical condition. Congress members ought to be required to release information related to health conditions that affect their ability to serve their constituents. This information needs to be released in a timely fashion. If not, and the congressperson remains missing in action, they ought to be replaced.

There are other changes needed in Congress.

No more using the budget and government shutdowns to hold the country hostage. If Congress can’t decide on a budget, the current one carries forward with adjustments for the cost of living. If Congress stalls on the budget for more than one budget cycle or shuts down the government in some other way, Congress members, POTUS, and SCOTUS don’t get paid. (Do you think that is incentive enough to get them to pass timely budgets and prevent government shutdowns?)

Congress members’ retirement should be based on Social Security and they should have the same healthcare system everyone else has. This will keep them from trying to eliminate Social Security and would encourage them to work on universal healthcare for all.

The filibuster must be scrapped. It is used as a weapon in Congress to block progress on bills. Enough. We didn’t elect Congress members to actively prevent work from getting done.

Congress members should have to divest of all stocks, so they can’t engage in insider trading. Mutual funds for the lot of them!

They should not be allowed to become lobbyists until 5 years after they have served in Congress.

Congress members should also be required to hold town hall or public meetings, so they have to face their constituents. There are an awful lot of Republicans refusing to hold town halls because they don’t want to hear how pissed off people are at them. They made a choice to become an office-holder and pass legislation against the will of the people. They ought to have public accountability for their decisions.

I recently read an article by Mark Herrmann in Above the Law with further suggestions for Congress to regulate itself. (You may have to sign up for a free account to read this – https://abovethelaw.com/2026/07/the-ways-that-congress-should-regulate-itself/) Many of the ideas presented overlap with what I’ve suggested above.

What other ideas do you have for improving the functioning of Congress? How would you change or build upon what I’ve suggested above?