Congress has returned from its August recess, but not for long.
asserted
Congress → return → long
The House will have just four voting days before members leave Washington to campaign for the November midterm elections.
asserted
members → have → elections
The Senate will remain somewhat longer, but little legislation of broad national consequence is expected to clear Congress before Election Day.
asserted
legislation → remain → Day
We have grown accustomed to Congress preparing for the next election while consequential questions remain unresolved year after year: immigration, the national debt, healthcare costs, war powers, energy policy, and the long-term finances of Social Security and Medicare.
asserted
questions → grow → Security
Soon, candidates from both parties will return home and tell us what is wrong with Washington and what they will accomplish if voters give them another term.
asserted
voters → return → term
There is an obvious question we don’t ask often enough: Why haven’t you done it already?
asserted
you → be → it
Control of Congress has changed repeatedly.
asserted
Control → change → Congress
Presidents have changed.
asserted
Presidents → change → ?
Majorities have come and gone.
asserted
Majorities → come → ?
The unresolved problems remain.
asserted
problems → remain → ?
Perhaps the problem is no longer simply who controls Congress.
asserted
who → control → Congress
The Founders viewed the balance of power differently.
asserted
Founders → view → power
James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 51 that in republican government, “the legislative authority necessarily predominates.”
asserted
authority → write → government
The Constitution reflects that expectation.
asserted
Constitution → reflect → expectation
Congress could tax and spend, regulate commerce, control appropriations, declare war, raise armies, create lower federal courts, and impeach federal officials.
uncertain
Congress → tax → officials
The Senate shared responsibility for treaties and major presidential appointments.
asserted
Senate → share → treaties
Two centuries later, Americans increasingly look to presidents to solve problems Congress cannot, or will not, resolve.
asserted
Congress → look → problems
As government became more complicated, Congress delegated considerable authority to the executive branch.
asserted
Congress → become → branch
Congress cannot anticipate every contingency.
asserted
Congress → anticipate → contingency
The more important question is whether Congress is delegating how a policy will be carried out — or avoiding responsibility for deciding what the policy should be.
asserted
policy → delegate → responsibility
For decades, Congress has failed to resolve basic questions about American immigration policy: What should happen to people who entered illegally but have lived peacefully here for decades?
asserted
who → fail → decades
Who should be prioritized for removal?
asserted
Who → prioritize → removal
What should the asylum system look like?
asserted
system → look → What
Yet presidents have increasingly supplied their own answers.
asserted
presidents → supply → answers
The Biden administration sharply limited interior enforcement priorities, concentrating ICE resources on national-security threats, serious criminals, and recent border crossers while expanding humanitarian parole and other pathways that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter or remain in the country.
asserted
thousands → limit → country
The Trump administration has taken almost the opposite approach: Simply being in the country illegally can put someone on the table for arrest and removal.
asserted
being → take → arrest
These are profoundly different immigration policies, yet both administrations have operated largely under immigration laws written by the same Congress.
asserted
administrations → operate → Congress
Presidents of both parties have conducted military operations under broad claims of authority, prompting Congress to enact the War Powers Resolution in 1973 to reassert its role.
uncertain
Presidents → conduct → role
Congress has similarly granted presidents considerable discretion over tariffs and extraordinary authority during national emergencies.
asserted
Congress → grant → emergencies
The growth of presidential power is not simply the story of presidents taking power.
asserted
presidents → take → power
It is also the story of Congress choosing not to exercise its own.
asserted
Congress → choose → own
There is an uncomfortable political reason this continues.
asserted
this → be → ?
Legislating is dangerous.
asserted
Legislating → legislate → ?
A representative who casts a difficult vote creates a record that can become a campaign advertisement.
asserted
that → cast → record
Compromise can anger activists.
asserted
Compromise → anger → activists
Supporting half a loaf can invite a primary challenge from someone promising the whole thing.
asserted
Supporting → support → thing
Avoiding the decision can be much safer.
asserted
Avoiding → avoid → decision
Better yet, an unresolved problem remains politically useful.
asserted
problem → remain → ?
Immigration can motivate voters.
asserted
Immigration → motivate → voters
Healthcare can raise money.
asserted
Healthcare → raise → money
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
