Just as “one swallow does not make a summer,” one session does not make a Congress. However, all indicators are that the current 118th Congress is for the birds, going south, and is unlikely to return to warmer climes in 2024.

The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank sums it up in a recent column headed, “Worst. Congress. Ever.” (Dec. 17). HuffPost pundit Jonathan Nicholson headlines his piece, “The Least Productive Congress Since the Great Depression” (Nov. 23). Both are heavily dependent on the number of laws enacted in the first session — 31 to date, compared to 328 at this point in the preceding 117th Congress’s first session under a Democratic majority and President Joe Biden.

Counting laws is a poor indicator of either productivity or the significance of a Congress’s actual accomplishments. For one thing, Republicans don’t think more laws necessarily translate into real progress. As former Republican Speaker “Uncle Joe” Cannon (Ill.) put it, “The country don’t need any legislation,” as, “everything is all right out West and in Danville.”

A more accurate assessment of the current Congress can be summed-up with just three words: delays, defeats and dissension — a 3-D picture that jumps out at you for its sheer weirdness. On delays, consider the four-day, 15-ballots required last........

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