Congress is divided and dysfunctional. More importantly, it is failing to discharge its constitutional duties. As a result, our nation is “at risk,” and public trust and confidence in Congress is near a historic low.

Congress only has one annual duty under the Constitution — to pass appropriations bills to fund federal operations. We have already experienced two government shutdowns this fiscal year, and Congress has still not passed a full fiscal 2027 funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The last time Congress passed all the appropriations bills before the beginning of the fiscal year was 1996! In addition, it has only done so four times since 1950! That is an F minus in performance.