It took twenty-two days for the U.S. House of Representatives to elect a new Speaker. For the first time in U.S. history, the House voted to oust their Speaker and the ramifications of that vote are still echoing throughout Washington to the rest of the world. The people’s business had all but stopped on Capitol Hill as Republicans duked it out amongst themselves for who will sit on top of this house of cards. This was all taking place while conflicts rage in the Middle East and Europe, there are still economic concerns impacting everyday Americans, and policies that can address these and other issues had stopped in their tracks. Fortunately, a Speaker has been elected and we can continue with the task of preventing a government shutdown in less than a month. This is an unprecedented time, but frankly I’m tired of experiencing these so often.
I have been fortunate enough to be a congressional staffer for eight years and in that time, I have seen too many historical moments. Some of these moments — like the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — are out of our control, but many of them were the making of our fractured and polarized political reality. In the eight years working on Capitol Hill, I have seen government shutdowns, two presidential impeachments, an insurrection, multiple ethics and corruption scandals by people in all positions of government — including the former president — and now a successful motion to vacate. Every time one of these events happened, I would see news headlines calling these moments “incredible” or “momentous” as if to say they could not have been foreseen. Yet these kinds of news stories have become a bit too common for my liking.
When events like these happen, I can see the toll it takes on the physical, mental, and emotional health of members and staffers alike. I talk to my friends who are burned out from helping to navigate their bosses through these crises. I hear the stories of colleagues who push themselves anyway they can make it through another day of utter chaos. And I must imagine this is also taking its toll on everyone else in our political ecosystem — from the Capitol Police protecting us to the administrative employees keeping the place functional, to even the journalist reporting on our bosses. I have to imagine the vast majority of members and staffers of both parties are exhausted by these unprecedented moments and simply want to do the work we were sent here to do. The constituents we fight for are expecting more from us. They deserve more than a majority party that can’t stop stepping on rakes.
I, of course, don’t have an answer on how to fundamentally fix this system, but sometimes I wish we can just go back to being “boring.” Boring is when we don’t have these self-inflicted crises and instead introduce legislation, debate policy, and do the people’s work. There will of course always be disagreement and arguments, but nothing that should test the stability of our democratic system. I’m just hoping for things to calm down once more. For the sake of the members, the staffers, the institution, and the country, I wish we can stop with so many unprecedented moments and just do our work.
Brad Korten is a legislative director to a Democratic member of the House and has worked in Congress for the past eight years.