The first year of Donald Trump's return to the White House has been marked by a historic legislative drought on Capitol Hill. The Republican-controlled 119th Congress has sent a mere 38 bills to the president's desk for his signature, setting a modern record for the least productive first session of a new presidential term.
A 'Do-Nothing' Congress for the Modern Era
More than 75 years after President Harry Truman famously attacked a "do-nothing" Congress that passed over 900 bills in two years, the current legislature has rendered that output prolific by comparison. The 119th Congress has managed just over 4 percent of the work done by the historically-maligned 80th Congress Truman criticised. This inactivity has allowed President Trump to drive his agenda forward primarily through executive orders, centralising governmental power within the White House and away from the legislative branch.
What Fills the Slender Legislative Record?
A significant portion of the few laws enacted have been "disapproval" resolutions, designed to roll back regulations from the previous administration rather than establish new policy. Other bills have been ceremonial or honourific, such as laws raising pensions for Medal of Honor recipients and authorising Congressional Gold Medals for the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" Olympic hockey team.
Critical, must-pass legislation has also contributed to the count, including the annual National Defense Authorization Act and continuing resolutions to fund the government at previous levels. A handful of stand-alone bills reflecting White House priorities, like the Laken Riley Act on immigration detention and the Take It Down Act championed by First Lady Melania Trump, have also become law.
Voting Data and Unaddressed Crises
Data from C-SPAN and Purdue University underscores the slowdown. The House cast only 362 roll-call votes in 2025, the lowest number for an opening year this century and roughly half of the total from Trump's first year in office in 2017. The Senate was more active with 659 votes, but most concerned confirmations for federal posts.
This legislative paralysis has left pressing issues unresolved. As noted by Republican Congressman David Joyce of Ohio, lawmakers have failed to address the looming expiry of Covid-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplaces, which will trigger sharp increases in health insurance premiums. "We dropped the ball miserably," Joyce told The Washington Post. "We didn't do a damn thing about it."
Power Shifts to the Executive Branch
The stark lack of legislative output highlights a significant shift in how Washington operates under Trump's second administration. With Congress largely sidelined, the president's most consequential changes are emanating from executive actions. The passage of the major "One Big Beautiful Bill" tax and spending package, achieved through a party-line process, stands as a notable exception, yet even Joyce conceded that beyond that, there is little to point to as an accomplishment.
This pattern of a major tax bill dominating a thin legislative record echoes the strategy of the George W. Bush administration in 2001, suggesting a continued Republican focus on consolidating executive power and advancing priorities through budgetary manoeuvres rather than broad, bipartisan lawmaking.
