‘ACTIVELY STUPID’ — It’s not uncommon for year-end stories about Congress to speculate about whether it’s the worst Congress ever — such is the level of dysfunction and polarization in recent decades. Even so, the first year of the 118th Congress is in a league of its own. It began and ended ignominiously, starting with a 15-vote marathon in the House just to decide on a speaker, Kevin McCarthy, who failed to last even a full year before being ousted. He was deposed in early October — the first time in the 234-year history of the House that a speaker was removed from office — leaving the House practically frozen for three weeks while the razor-thin GOP majority decided on his successor. Congress approached new peaks of pettiness this year, with Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), one of the eight Republicans to vote to vacate McCarthy from the speakership, accusing the former speaker of elbowing him in the kidney. On the same day, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) almost got into a physical fight with a witness during a hearing. A few weeks before that, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) was captured on camera pulling a fire alarm as Democrats stalled for time to read a spending bill averting a showdown. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for his conduct and was censured by the House, making him one of three House members censured this year — the most in over 150 years. A censure is the House’s tool for expressing serious disapproval of member misconduct that falls short of the threshold for expulsion. As it turns out, the House had one of those, too — it expelled its first member in over 20 years, Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was indicted on federal charges including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. All that dysfunction left little time for lawmaking: Just 22 bills were enacted into law this year — a relatively low number compared to the dozens of bills typically passed by Thanksgiving. While a few more bills could be added to that list with the Senate wrapping up next week, its legislative pace is lagging — it typically finishes each two-year Congress with hundreds of bills passed. In November, an exasperated Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) expressed his frustration openly on the House floor. “I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing — one — that I can go campaign on and say we did,” Roy shouted. “Explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.” The second session of the 118th Congress isn’t necessarily looking any brighter. With Santos gone and McCarthy resigning at the end of the year, Republicans have an even slimmer GOP majority to work with in 2024. The spending deadlines normally met before the end of the year are now pushed to the start of next year, without any signs of agreement on funding levels. And with a new impeachment inquiry opened against President Joe Biden this week, the House could be caught up in further partisan warfare. Already, in the House, 40 members have announced they are either running for higher office or retiring. Seven senators are also calling it quits. The number of congressional retirees is expected to grow come January after members spend the holidays with their families and contemplate their political futures. Former Speaker pro tem Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is one of those departing, marking the end of almost 20 years in Congress. The chairman of the Financial Services Committee, McHenry referred to the past few months in Congress as “a very actively stupid political environment.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at mmccarthy@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Reporter_Mia.
| 
