Congress passed only 31 laws in 2023
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress spent the past 12 months ensuring that this session would be one for the history books.
It was punctuated with the first removal of a House speaker, the first interim speaker and the first member to be expelled in more than 20 years.
There was Republican infighting; and almost physical fighting in a hallway, a committee meeting and even on the House floor.
But what people won’t remember about 2023 is the long list of legislation passed through the hallowed halls of Congress.
That’s because it doesn’t exist.
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In fact, only 31 pieces of legislation became law since Jan. 1, making this year one of the most ineffective in congressional history.
And President Joe Biden signed eight of those bills into law just this month.
By comparison, each two-year session of Congress since 1973 has passed at least 284 pieces of legislation, with a high of 804 in 1977-78, according to govtrack.us.
What passed: Here are some of the bills that did become law this year:
On June 3, Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 into law to raise the debt ceiling, narrowly preventing an economic collapse that would have been caused by the country’s failure to meet its financial obligations.
In November, an imminent government shutdown was averted when both houses passed and Biden signed a temporary funding bill that splits the deadlines for passing full-year appropriations bills into two dates: Jan. 19 for some federal agencies and Feb. 2 for others.A bill honoring the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps and directing the Department of Treasury to release a series of coins commemorating the anniversary in 2025 was signed on July 27.
In March, Biden signed into law a bill to block revisions the District of Columbia city council had proposed to the city's criminal code that would have lowered the maximum penalties for most crimes. Biden vetoed a bill in May that would have blocked reforms to increase police accountability in D.C.
Of the 31 bills passed, 11 either helped veterans or commemorated the military in some way, including a bill to keep National Guard members from having their higher income from the National Guard used in bankruptcy proceedings, instead of that of their normal jobs; a bill to fund the military’s budget in 2024; and a bill to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs creates an online system for veterans or their representatives to request documents. The department must fulfill requests within 120 days.
Other bills gave veterans a cost-of-living increase beginning on Dec. 1; helped veterans from South Korea who fought alongside the United States in the Vietnam war receive health care benefits; and strengthened benefits for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange who then had children born with spina bifida.One of the first pieces of legislation to pass through Congress ordered the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information about potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and the origin of COVID-19. Another ended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Reps.
Another bill, signed last week, looks at best practices involving Xylazine, a medication used by veterinarians that when mixed with fentanyl has made the drug Narcan ineffective in reversing some drug overdoses. Under the new law, the National Institute of Standards and Technology must research Xylazine, create rapid detection tests for the drug and create partnerships with organizations that might come into contact with street drugs.
What's next: Congress ended the year without tackling some major issues like funding Israel and Ukraine or enhancing the nation’s border security.
It’s becoming routine news, but Congress also returns in January facing down another potential government shutdown if lawmakers can’t agree on how to fund the government.
Meanwhile, the 2024 election season is underway with a series of upcoming primaries, starting with the Iowa Republican caucus on Jan. 15, meaning everything Congress does will be held to higher scrutiny.
