Congress is on track to pass the least amount of legislation in any two-year session since former President Barack Obama’s presidency.
The 119th Congress has enacted 97 bills into law thus far and passed 274 bills during the 118th Congress; the previous lowest number of bills passed happened during Obama’s administration when 284 bills were passed during the 112th Congress, according to GovTrack. Lawmakers will likely have difficulty passing more legislation before the midterm elections in November.
That figure is historically low, especially with one party controlling the legislative and executive branches. In former President Joe Biden’s first two years, Democrats enacted 365 bills while controlling both chambers, and lawmakers passed 385 bills during former President Barack Obama’s first two years, according to GovTrack.
Republicans have struggled to send key legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk, including the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a third reconciliation package and trans-related bills. The Senate passed a second reconciliation package Friday following an 18-hour vote-a-rama, which would provide over $30.73 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $22.57 billion to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and $2.5 billion in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations through 2029.
“Despite a razor-thin House majority and a string of record-setting government shutdowns forced by the Democrats, Speaker Johnson, his leadership team, and House Republicans have delivered countless positive legislative results for the American people – including lower taxes, secure borders, reduced crime, a return to American energy dominance, massive reductions in burdensome regulations, fraud, waste, and abuse, and more,” a spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The offices of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Senate Republicans have struggled to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require all voters to provide documentation proving their U.S. citizenship before casting a ballot in a federal election. The legislation passed the House on April 10, though the Senate has not met the 60-vote threshold needed for it to pass the Senate.
Trump pressured Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, though Thune said the Senate lacked the necessary votes to nuke the filibuster. Some Republicans, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, have pushed to get rid of the filibuster, though not all in the party have been on board. Republicans have been unsuccessful in securing enough Democratic support for the bill.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina have all opposed the SAVE Act.
Congress is also planning to pass a third reconciliation package in the summertime, which Johnson said would address affordability and anti-fraud measures. Congress has still not passed the $1.5 trillion in spending cuts promised to holdouts of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, though Johnson promised they would use the reconciliation to pass these promised cuts.
Lawmakers also introduced 127 bills in 2026 so far to fight transgenderism, which included prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports, ensuring parental rights and barring medical procedures for minors, according to counts from Trans Legislation Tracker.
The House overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on May 21, a housing affordability bill which aimed to tackle the housing crisis by expanding loans to build housing, curbing Wall Street’s ownership of single-family homes, pushing local governments to loosen permitting rules and expanding manufactured housing. Since the House amended the Senate’s version that originally passed in March, the chambers must reconcile their differences before the legislation can be sent to Trump’s desk.
Congress is also trying to pass the BUILD America 250 Act, a five-year surface transportation reauthorization package to fund the construction of federal highways, transit and bridges. The package passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on May 22, ahead of the Sept. 30 expiration date of the current infrastructure law.
In recent years, Congress has put forth larger bills than in previously, which is part of the reason lawmakers claim fewer bills have been passed. Both chambers passed the Working Families Tax Cut Act in July 2025, which included a broad range of conservative agenda items such as border security, tax cuts, healthcare, and energy policies, which all could have been brought forth as single-subject bills and thus increased the number of bills passed.
The House consists of 217 Republicans and 212 Democrats, making the Republicans majority extremely slim. The Senate also requires 60 votes in order to bypass a filibuster on most pieces of legislation.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
