When Congress Stops Governing, Presidents Fill The Void

The midterms won't fix Congress's dysfunction or its growing surrender of power to the presidency.

Allan J. Feifer | October 26, 2026

Congress on a Knife’s Edge

Congress’s responsibilities include making laws, settling national questions, and holding the executive branch accountable. Increasingly, however, legislators find obstruction more rewarding than governing, particularly when control of Congress is balanced on a knife’s edge. The November 3 election may change which party holds the advantage, but it won’t resolve the deeper problem: a Congress increasingly unable to produce durable laws. When lawmakers fail to act, presidents fill the vacuum with reversible executive orders.

Our adversaries understand the weakness this creates. Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters last week that Iran is changing its tactics in the Strait of Hormuz to keep oil prices high, attempting to influence the American midterms. One said Tehran would not let Trump bring prices down before the vote. Iran can weaken Trump’s congressional support by betting that American policy won’t last. The 2015 nuclear agreement was never submitted to the Senate as a treaty, and three years later a new president walked away from it. The lesson is clear: when policy rests on executive action rather than durable legislation, adversaries are incentivized to wait us out.

A Congress That Cannot Finish Anything

A Democrat House would control subpoenas, investigations, impeachments, and more. It won’t control the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 votes to end debate on most legislation, so Democrats could obstruct, block, or tie Trump in knots without replacing his agenda with their own. Republicans, even with a Senate majority, face the same obstacle.

When Congress doesn’t legislate on issues of national or international importance, administrations turn to executive action, often ending up in court.........

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