On Jan. 20, 2017, President Trump proclaimed in his inaugural address to a dumbfounded nation, “Together, we will make America great again.” Republicans greeted Trump’s promise with great enthusiasm, believing they would easily enact a policy agenda over the next two years to deliver on it. And why not? They controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency for the first time in more than a decade. Moreover, Trump’s proclamation was the perfect rallying cry for Republicans. In four short words, “make America great again” conveys the essence of their professed conservatism — looking to the past for guidance in the present on making progress in the future.

While restoring America to what Republicans see as its past greatness no doubt takes time, the explicit grandeur of their effort should at least be observable in Congress. Passing tax reform was indeed a start, as has been the Senate’s record in confirming Trump’s judicial nominees. However, the tax code is not the only problem people are concerned with at present. And notwithstanding Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., boasts to the contrary, the Senate is more than a Human Resources department for the federal judiciary.