Congress: What’s it good for?

The next congressional election is just weeks away. Barring any last-minute kamikaze mission by RINOs or junk-mail balloting, it looks like Republicans will take control of the House and the Senate.

This raises an interesting question: Congress, what’s it good for?

On one level, not much. Whatever laws the Democrats can’t kill in committee will be vetoed by Biden.

Likewise, impeaching Attorney General Merrick Garland and others is a dead end since we don’t have the votes in the Senate to convict. As a practical matter, we may not have a working majority.

Senior Republicans, more interested in attending the next wine and cheese party than tending to the needs of their constituents and nation, are going to be tempted to be the next John McCain. Add to this a Democratic leadership willing to fight dirty, and we’ll be forced to fight just to get a budget done on time.

It’s not all bad news.

Republican control of both houses means no more "Build Back Broke" spending bills. It also means we can begin preparing for the next presidential election by forcing Biden and company to publicly defend their agenda. We do this by forcing Biden to veto bill after bill. Imagine Biden vetoing a bill supporting energy production as oil hits $100 per barrel, or leftist tears if forced to support a presidential veto of Marjorie Taylor Green’s bill protecting children from the Orwellian "gender-affirming care."

Often overlooked are administrative acts. If there is the will to do so, Republicans can ban earmarks (again). They can file ethics complaints and force investigations against the likes of Rep. Jerry Nadler, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Adam Schiff for their dirty deeds over the last few years.

And then there are congressional hearings and investigations. Why not use Nancey Pelosi’s beloved January 6 committee to determine if the FBI instigated the riot in the same way the agency instigated the Gretchen Witmer kidnapping plot? At the very least, we can force the FBI to say how many informants and agents were on the ground that morning.

If the Republicans have the necessary courage and discipline, well-run hearings and investigations can lead to special prosecutors and criminal charges. Hunter Biden's laptop is the obvious example, but the essential work of reforming the politicalized Department of Justice and the gender-affirming Department of Education begins with congressional hearings documenting the problems.

Just because we can’t convict Mr. Garland before the 2024 presidential election doesn’t mean we can’t do so afterward, especially if all the paperwork is already in order.

And there are things less ordinary. Congress has the power to issue public proclamations either jointly or individually. Proclamations are usually reserved for pointless announcements. Today is national green ink day, but with a little imagination, it can be so much more. Let’s suppose Congress submits criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, which refuses to act on them. Why not have both the Senate and House issue public statements denouncing the DOJ? Senate moderates blocking efforts to defund Biden’s IRS expansion? Have the House issue its own proclamation.

Do you want to call attention to the lives mutilated and destroyed by the transgender movement? Why not proclaim a national detransition day? Why not a proclamation in support of election integrity or securing the border?

Like the presidential veto, these actions put Democrats on the wrong side of an issue and put Republicans on the hook for decisive action after they retake the White House in 2024.

Congress, what’s it good for? In the hands of a driven, disciplined party, quite a lot.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License

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