Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Make governing great again

New members of Congress

Newly elected members of Congress take a break from orientation to gather for their class photo at the Capitol on Nov. 15.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Murphy is the director of FixUS, the democracy reform advocacy arm of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal policy think tank of which he is also chief of staff. Tomchik is vice president nd deputy chief of staff at FixUS and CRFB

To the new members of Congress,

Congratulations on your election. In just two short months, you’ll take your seat in an institution that has guided and embodied the world’s oldest representative democracy and its people since its founding more than two centuries ago. Sadly, the excitement you may feel at this moment isn’t matched by your fellow citizens.

According to Gallup, only 7 percent of Americans possess a great deal of confidence in Congress. That’s lower than their confidence in the presidency, organized labor, large tech companies and the media. And while none of this is surprising, it should be cause for concern.

The problem stems from the fact that, for many Americans, the first branch of our democracy seems to have little to do with governing. Instead of working together and passing laws, Congress has become a zero-sum game, defined by gridlock and hyper-partisanship. Add to that the endless campaign cycles, self-imposed crises, and back-and-forth bickering in the media, and it’s easy to see why Americans feel as they do.

So, how did it get to this point? And more importantly, as an incoming member of Congress, what can you do about it?


Fortunately, you can find answers in the collective wisdom of the public servants who came before you – dozens of living former elected and appointed officials spanning every presidential administration from John F. Kennedy to Donald J. Trump (whom we surveyed during the current Congress).

If you ask these former mayors, governors, members of Congress, U.S. ambassadors, Cabinet secretaries, and White House chiefs of staff why it seems that good governing is no longer good politics and what can we do about it, they’ll reaffirm your worst fears about the political dysfunction taking place. However, they’ll also offer hope that change is possible and, more importantly, it can begin with you.

For that to happen, you’ll have to recognize, acknowledge and work to overcome two uncomfortable truths – ones you’re likely already familiar with.

First, like most people, elected officials respond to incentives, and our electoral system has built-in incentives that effectively make good governing bad politics. Gerrymandered districts and the outsized role and influence of partisan primaries increasingly yield power to the extreme flanks of both parties and contribute to a system that leads many to choose party over country. Members of Congress spend an inordinate amount of time “dialing for dollars,” raising money for their next election at the expense of devoting time to the task of legislating.

Second, you’ll be increasingly immersed in a media landscape that constantly shifts the focus in Washington from policy to politics and, more specifically, to the politics of outrage. This gradual change has not only stoked our divisions and reinforced information echo chambers, but it also makes agreeing on a common set of facts nearly impossible. It’s hard to govern when you cannot even agree upon reality itself.

The result is governing is too often defined by short-term political gain at the expense of long-term problem-solving. It’s why issues like affordable health care, improving education, fixing our broken immigration system, and addressing our national debt have become perennial topics on the campaign trail rather than the subject of legislative action.

However, all hope is not lost. And the change begins with you as members of Congress.

If you ask your predecessors what is urgently needed given the challenges of today, they’ll tell you – regardless of office held, when they served, or which party they belonged to – that it is not political warriors but leaders who choose to govern with character. It’s those public officials – many you will get to know but who don’t garner as much media attention as the firebrands – who take the time to get to know their fellow members, learn the issues and the facts, know the importance and role of compromise, and who, above all else, practice civility toward others.

The nation you’re about to serve is at a crossroads. In addition to the domestic and international challenges it faces, many are losing faith in our democracy and the very tenet of self-government. Reversing this trend will require reaffirming the constitutional belief that we “affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens.”

But while your task may be monumental, it is not impossible. It starts by doing the very thing you were elected to do: govern, and in doing so, show good governing can be good politics once again.

Good luck!

Read More

Project 2025 and the Assault on Immigrant Rights
the statue of liberty is shown against a blue sky
Photo by Chris Linnett on Unsplash

Project 2025 and the Assault on Immigrant Rights

This essay is part of a series by Lawyers Defending American Democracy explaining how many of the administration’s executive actions harm individuals throughout the country and demonstrate the link between these actions and their roots in the authoritarian blueprint, Project 2025.

The Impact of Executive Edicts On Immigration – At War With Ourselves

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Those enduring words from the poem by Emma Lazarus were inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty about 160 years ago. Today, Donald Trump routinely delivers a very different message. As he sees it, nations around the world “are emptying their mental institutions and insane asylums,” and sending the residents to the United States. “They are also coming from Africa, the Congo in Africa, from prisons in Congo.” “They are coming in from Asia. They’re coming in from the Middle East.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Elbows Up, Arms Crossed
people gathering near green trees during daytime
Photo by Malu Laker on Unsplash

Elbows Up, Arms Crossed

Last month, 23andMe announced it was filing for bankruptcy, and dozens of states are suing to stop the company from selling off personal data. Yet, unlike for-profit businesses, lawyers in nonprofit organizations cannot just stop representing clients when funding ends. We continue the representation until the matter is concluded. This is a quagmire; immigration cases such as a U Visa can take 30 years to process from start to finish.

We also have a duty of confidentiality of information. This means that we cannot disclose information about representation. I remember learning, as a young attorney, that much like a doctor or therapist, if I saw a client in public, I could not speak to them or disclose that I knew them, unless they initiated that contact. The fact that I was a lawyer and guarded their secrets means everything.

Keep ReadingShow less
Congress Bill Spotlight: Congress Meeting in Philadelphia on Declaration of Independence 250th Anniversary

New legislation would convene Congress at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the site of the Declaration of Independence’s signing on July 4, 1776, for the 250th anniversary on July 2, 2026.

Getty Images, Douglas Rissing

Congress Bill Spotlight: Congress Meeting in Philadelphia on Declaration of Independence 250th Anniversary

Hopefully, Nicolas Cage wouldn’t steal it this time, like he did in 2004’s implausible adventure movie National Treasure.

What the bill does

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Strikes Iran Nuclear Sites: Trump’s Pivot Amid Middle East Crisis

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine discusses the mission details of a strike on Iran during a news conference at the Pentagon on June 22, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia.

(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

U.S. Strikes Iran Nuclear Sites: Trump’s Pivot Amid Middle East Crisis

In his televised address to the nation Saturday night regarding the U.S. strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump declared that the attacks targeted “the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.” He framed the operation as a necessary response to decades of Iranian aggression, citing past attacks on U.S. personnel and Tehran’s support for militant proxies.

While those justifications were likely key drivers, the decision to intervene was also shaped by a complex interplay of political strategy, alliance dynamics, and considerations of personal legacy.

Keep ReadingShow less