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But if congress made the rules it would be in jeopardy every 2 years with every single presidential and midterm election. The whole reason we have elections is

by jjk166 2y ago

But if congress made the rules it would be in jeopardy every 2 years with every single presidential and midterm election. The whole reason we have elections is so that people can put into place new leaders who will change rules. There's no such thing as a permanent law, and anyone with two braincells to rub together wouldn't want there to be.

lolinder 2y ago
Most congressional seats are not up for election in any given 2-year cycle, so a single 6-month window of support for your side doesn't do the trick—in most cases you have to do that three times over six years in many states, which would tend to mean that the shift in sentiment wasn't ephemeral but was in fact a sustained national shift against the law in question. There are exceptions (2010), but even those are clearly cases where something abnormal was happening at the grassroots level, not just the usual 5% pendulum we see with the presidency. And then, once you've successfully changed the makeup of Congress to meaningfully slant in your direction, you still have to also control the presidency or at least work with the president in order to get a bill through. So, yes, Congress can repeal bills that it's put in place. But it takes a lot of work and generally would represent a pretty fundamental shift in voter opinions, which is exactly when laws should change.
- jjk166 2y ago
  468 of the 538 seats in congress, including 100% of house seats, are up for election every 2 years. On top of this, you don't need to change every seat in congress, you generally only need a tiny handful to flip to switch control - for example at this moment the Senate is 51 to 49 and the house is 220 to 212 (with 3 vacancies). To flip both houses would require only 7 seats to flip, or 1.3% of congressional seats. The big difference between congressional and executive elections is that congressional changes explicitly do not represent national shifts in voter opinions as they are regional elections. Only a national election can demonstrate a true shift in voter opinions, and when such a shift occurs is exactly when laws should change.

by jjk166 2y ago

lolinder 2y ago

Most congressional seats are not up for election in any given 2-year cycle, so a single 6-month window of support for your side doesn't do the trick—in most cases you have to do that three times over six years in many states, which would tend to mean that the shift in sentiment wasn't ephemeral but was in fact a sustained national shift against the law in question. There are exceptions (2010), but even those are clearly cases where something abnormal was happening at the grassroots level, not just the usual 5% pendulum we see with the presidency. And then, once you've successfully changed the makeup of Congress to meaningfully slant in your direction, you still have to also control the presidency or at least work with the president in order to get a bill through. So, yes, Congress can repeal bills that it's put in place. But it takes a lot of work and generally would represent a pretty fundamental shift in voter opinions, which is exactly when laws should change.

jjk166 2y ago
468 of the 538 seats in congress, including 100% of house seats, are up for election every 2 years. On top of this, you don't need to change every seat in congress, you generally only need a tiny handful to flip to switch control - for example at this moment the Senate is 51 to 49 and the house is 220 to 212 (with 3 vacancies). To flip both houses would require only 7 seats to flip, or 1.3% of congressional seats. The big difference between congressional and executive elections is that congressional changes explicitly do not represent national shifts in voter opinions as they are regional elections. Only a national election can demonstrate a true shift in voter opinions, and when such a shift occurs is exactly when laws should change.