Summary: WHAT IF… We Required More of Congress?

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Let’s be honest about something most Americans already know, but rarely say out loud:  Congress is broken.  Not just a little broken.

It was brilliantly designed by our Founders, but is being manipulated for personal power, profit, and ruling class advantage - across both parties.

Our Founders built a government of public servants - people who serve the citizens.  With excessive pay, lavish benefits, and a national debt that grows every single day, the equation has flipped.

Today, citizens increasingly serve the politicians and the government - the exact reverse of our founding design.  Public servants today are a ruling class.  We are the subjects.

In America, for now, what citizens allowed, citizens can reverse.  This happened on our watch, which means it is ours to fix.

The question is not “Who do we blame?” but “What if?”

Here are seven common-sense standards for every American:

#1 - What if character actually mattered?

Let’s only elect people of proven good character to Congress - committed to the long-term common good of all Americans, who would not use the office for personal or family profit.  Madison, Adams, and Franklin each treated character in office as the precondition of the republic itself.  Then, we hold them accountable - same consequences for them as for us - prosecute violators and, if found guilty, remove them from office, fine them, and put them in jail.

#2 - What if we eliminated corruption in Congress?

Simple change - it’s called accountability:  Any member convicted of a felony is immediately removed;  any member facing charges is placed on unpaid leave until trial;  and every elected official is audited annually.  If a law applies to Americans, it applies to Congress - healthcare, taxes, retirement, and legal accountability alike, with no carve-outs.  We are not asking for saints.  We are demanding servants.

#3 - What if no balanced budget meant no pay?

Members receive no paycheck unless the budget is balanced - no debt created or committed.  In contrast - during the fall of 2025, Congress failed its most basic job and triggered the longest shutdown in modern history - 43 days - while members kept collecting their salaries.  Nothing in the Constitution prevents Congress from withholding its own pay during a shutdown and until the budget is balanced.  Fiscal responsibility is not a partisan value - it is a stewardship obligation.  Handing our children trillions in debt they did not approve is generational theft.

#4 - What if we right-sized and refocused Congress?

Let’s reshape its size and schedule into a body that is leaner, more focused, and more accountable.  Reduce the House from 435 to 250 members, with a minimum of one per state.  Limit Congress sessions, so members go home to live among the people they represent. Record and publish attendance in Congressional sessions and votes -  so citizens can see how often their representative actually shows up.  And eliminate gerrymandering - district maps built from full adjoining counties, so who represents us is determined by the people, not political power brokers.

#5 - What if Congress reclaimed the power to make our laws?

Article I, Section 1 vests all legislative power in Congress, yet most of our laws today are produced inside agencies by bureaucrats who cannot be ousted by voters. Restore Constitutional law - no new law can be made or existing law changed except by Congress.  Laws should be made by the lawmakers we elect, not the bureaucracy we cannot.

#6 - What if each member was limited to 2+0-5/50-100?

The shorthand packs four reforms into one:  Maximum two original bills per member each year (2), zero earmarks (+0), five old laws or regulations repealed for every new one passed (-5), and a 50-to-100-page cap per bill (/50-100).  In a single recent two-year Congress, members introduced more than 19,000 bills, increasingly buried in omnibus packages few read before voting - the longest ran 5,593 pages.  The goal:  Fewer, shorter, clearer laws Americans can actually read and understand.

#7 - What if government service meant compensation comparable to citizens?

A true servant does not out-earn, out-benefit, and out-secure the household they serve.  Apply the identical tax rates you and I pay, with no loopholes, and similar time off, benefits, and pensions for all every elected official and government employee - including only the same Social Security and Medicare the rest of us rely on.  Public service should be honored.  It should also be fair.

The Mountain Ahead

Making these changes will be challenging, but not impossible.

Congress is the branch closest to the people - every representative and senator chosen by the voters of a single state or district, with the entire House standing for election every two years.  No branch answers to our votes more often, or more directly.

This is why every vote counts.  Too many of us are not voting - or voting based on emotion rather than facts - and every uncast or miscast vote forfeits power to the powerful.  In 2024, roughly 89 million eligible Americans did not vote - more than voted for either candidate. 

Self-governance is not a spectator sport.

The cost is small - a little of our time, attention, and action.  American citizens must now show up as responsible stewards of our freedom and close the door in tyranny’s face.

We can do this.

This is the second of three posts on the branches of government our Founders designed to serve us, not rule us.  We began with the Executive - the one who enforces the law - and now turn to Congress, the many who make the laws.  The courts, who apply them, come next. 

Each was carefully designed to check the others.  Each has drifted from its purpose.  Each can be restored.

Lasting restoration occurs when we - American citizens - strengthen our character, comprehend the facts, and gratefully steward the people’s government for the common good.

Simple Liberty unites everyday Americans to research the facts behind our nation’s biggest problems and develop solutions for the common good

...because politicians and billionaires won’t do it for us.