Congress should be held accountable to do their jobs, starting with managing the finances of the country.  This is what every family and every business has to do.

Members of Congress and Senators should be held accountable when they fail to perform their most basic function: funding the government. Congress has not passed a budget by the October 1 deadline since 1996.

No Budget, No Pay is bipartisan legislation supported by 65% of Americans that would withhold congressional salaries if an annual budget fails to pass by October 1.  There have been a number of No Budget, No Pay bills introduced in recent years, but none have passed.

Extremism is now the winning formula in Congress. The Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House have near unilateral control over what makes it to the floor for a vote.  As Congress becomes more polarized, political maneuvering and infighting make it more and more difficult to introduce, let alone enact, truly bipartisan legislation.

While attacks make headlines, urgent problems go unaddressed.  The failure of a bipartisan border bill that would have dramatically improved a disastrous situation is the most conspicuous example of how perverse political incentives can triumph over good-faith collaboration and dealmaking.

Today, many bills do not get a vote in Congress even if they have bipartisan support from a majority of Members of Congress. By requiring a vote on these bills, we can ensure that legislation with broad support gets passed.

The Senate must have 60 votes to pass significant pieces of legislation. The House operates under a simple majority rule system. The process requiring a 60 vote threshold in the Senate is called the filibuster. The filibuster incentivizes bipartisanship. Doing away with it or lowering the threshold for passing bills out of the Senate would incentivize extremism and reduce opportunities for both parties to cooperate.  The filibuster is an essential mechanism to ensure balanced bipartisan representation and force the Senate to find common ground and get things done. It ought to be protected, not eliminated.

Being elected to Congress has become a lifelong job. Supreme Court justices have always enjoyed lifetime appointments.

Members of the House are able to serve unlimited two-year terms. Senators can serve unlimited six-year terms.  Nearly 90% of individuals elected to Congress seek reelection, and incumbents won 95% of their races in 2024. Term limits are a great example of the divide between having the majority of popular will (83% of voters support) and political reality.