Congress has grown increasingly derelict in its constitutional duties, allowing the executive branch to expand its power far beyond what the framers intended. The legislative branch was designed to be the first among equals—holding the power of the purse, oversight, and lawmaking authority. Yet, in recent decades, Congress has repeatedly ceded these powers to the president, often out of partisanship or political convenience. Lawmakers defer to executive agencies to craft regulations and interpret statutes, avoiding accountability for tough policy decisions. As a result, Congress has become less a deliberative body shaping the nation’s direction and more a reactive institution issuing press releases and holding symbolic hearings.

This dereliction has gravely weakened the system of checks and balances that underpins American democracy. Presidents of both parties have increasingly acted unilaterally through executive orders, national emergency declarations, and selective enforcement of laws—all with minimal pushback from Congress. Oversight, once a powerful tool to ensure transparency and accountability, has devolved into partisan theater rather than genuine scrutiny. When Congress fails to challenge or even question such overreach, it erodes not just its own authority but also the balance of power envisioned in the Constitution. The legislative branch becomes complicit in executive aggrandizement, undermining its essential role as a counterweight.

The consequences of this abdication extend beyond Washington’s institutional rivalries. A weakened Congress diminishes the voice of the people it represents, since the legislature is the branch most directly accountable to voters. When lawmakers neglect their duty to legislate, oversee, and constrain the presidency, policy becomes the province of unelected bureaucrats and political appointees. The Founders designed the separation of powers to prevent exactly this form of concentrated authority. Restoring congressional responsibility will require courage, institutional pride, and a willingness to place constitutional duty above partisan loyalty—a test Congress has too often failed in the modern era.