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They are not. Even if we assume congress wasn't a complete gridlocked mess, they simply do not have the bandwidth. There 535 Members of Congress and they work
by drew-y 4y ago
They are not. Even if we assume congress wasn't a complete gridlocked mess, they simply do not have the bandwidth. There 535 Members of Congress and they work less than 200 days a year in a typical session.
How many regulatory bodies are there that need rules passed? I can think of the FAA, FTC, EPA, FDA, USDA, and the NRC just off the top of my head. A quick google search shows there are 19 of these rule making agencies. Even with a wide distribution of rule making authority, these agencies struggle to keep up with our rapidly evolving world.
Forcing congress to hear and make a decision on every single regulation these agencies propose would be a bottleneck that brings this country to it's knees.
- ISL 4y ago365 * 5 / 7 = 260. Removing ~3 weeks vacation gets you down to 245. Eleven federal holidays? 234. 200 days/year sounds like an almost full-time job?
- drew-y 4y agoYou're assuming they have a standard five day work week. That's not how legislative sessions work. https://history.house.gov/Institution/Session-Dates/110-Current/ https://history.house.gov/Institution/Session-Dates/110-Curr...
- TylerE 4y agoThey have no obligation to actually show up. Many miss more votes than they are present for. Also, most sessions only run a few hours, and many more are pro forms, where the minimum quorum show up (I think this is something like 15 or 20), open the session and then immediately close it.
- gumby 4y ago> There 535 Members of Congress and they work less than 200 days a year in a typical session. Sure, Congress is in session for about 200 days, and even when it is the elected officials aren't typically on the floor for the full day. But that doesn't mean that when they aren't on the floor they aren't necessarily working. They could be meeting with constituents, with their staff, reading bills, going to committee meetings, just meeting with other reps/senators etc. You make it sound like they don't do anything.