A Lawyers Perspective on Congress Deadlock

By Natalie Charbonneau

As the 113
th
Congress term comes to an end, conversations have arisen regarding the lack of
productivity coming out of Washington. With the end of the year approaching, Washington is on track to
have the least amount of legislations discussed by Congress in history (currently only at 9,146)
1
.

Obama has been extremely vocal with his frustrations with House Republicans and their inability to
compromise. In Obamas opinion, the Republicans have left him no choice but to use executive orders to
accomplish anything. In return, Speaker of the House John Boehner has chosen to sue President Obama.
The question remains, who is truly the cause of this domino affect across
Washington? To get a new perspective on the subject, I sat down with
Gonzaga University professor Donald Hackney. Hackney, not only has his
MBA but also holds a J.D. (Juris Doctor). In his spare time, he and his wife are
small business owners in Spokane, Washington.
I sat down with Hackney one afternoon in his cluttered office that
showcased his pure interest in any topics related to government and the
laws created by the system. On one of his many bookcases, he even had, not
one, but two different copies of the Federalist. Also known as the Federalist
Papers, these documents were written between October 1787 and May
1788 in hopes of encouraging the citizens of New York to ratify the United
States Constitution.
2


1
"Statistics and Historical Comparison." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 July 2014.
2
"About the Federalist Papers." The Federalist Papers. The Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 14 July 2014.
772
729
804
736
529
677
687
761
665
610
473
337
404
604
383
504
483
460
385
284
126
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
CONGRESS
# of Enacted Laws by Each Congress in the
Past 20 Years
Enacted Laws
Data taken from govtrack.us
When I first asked him, if he wouldnt mind speaking with me, his humble response was Well I can tell
you what my theory is but I am just like some guy you would meet on a bar stool. After talking with him
for almost an hour, this proved to be very wrong.
My first question to him was simple, what is your opinion on how Congress is doing currently? His
answer showcased the level of thought and time he has spent on the matter. After stating the obvious
about Congress inability to come together, he went into depth about why he believes our nations
Congress is in a deadlock.
His first theory is simply the personalities that make up the Senate and the House. He specifically points
out a few representatives, including Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, stating, To me, a guy like
Harry Reid, is so
personally, kind of
hateful and nasty. He
continues on to
generalize the
thoughts each party
has towards each
other, explaining,
Republicans think
Democrats are dumb.
Democrats think
Republicans are evil. From these types of thoughts throughout Congress it seems clearly evident, why
Congress fails to get along. Hackney, being a true professor, spoke of a scenario where if two lawyers sit
down together and each thinks the other is dumb and evil, the chances of them compromising are slim
to none.

Another personality issue within Washington, according to Hackney, is in the morals of each party.
Simply put, the left side believe government is more important than the right, with conservatives having
more of a traditional view. Meaning that the political order and the rest of your life are completely two
separate things.
But it isnt the personalities alone that cause the issues. As an example, Hackney points out that Ronald
Reagan and Tip ONeill (Former Speaker of the House) completely hated one another but when the time
came, they were able to put their dislike for one another off to the side and get things done. Hackneys
theory for why the 113
th
(and the 112
th
) Congress cant get anything done is simply because they dont
talk to each other and they are so divided. Hackney explains that Obama was rated as one of the most
Republicans think Democrats are dumb.
Democrats think Republicans are evil.
leftist members of the senate, with the exception of Bernie Sanders (a self-identified socialist), and now
he is president. Along with that, Hackney explains, came the Tea Party movement which caused the
Conservatives to shift even farther right on the political spectrum.
This explanation of the political spectrum, led Hackney to his strongest
theory behind the deadlock; Obamas faults as a president.
Compromise is the biggest part of politics and Obama is failing to be
the mediator. Hackney uses President Lyndon B. Johnson as an
example of what a president should do. He would grab them in the
hall . . . and of course there would be threats involved well if you want
that dam in your district then you better vote on this civil rights bill.
But he got something done. As Hackney clearly points out Obama
isnt doing that. He sits back and watches the House pass a bill and
then lets Harry Reid just sit on it, therefore stopping the bill all
together (instead of sending it back to the House with the Senates
ideas), with no chance of compromise. He continues to explain that
Johnson would be up at two in the morning calling people and putting
pressure on them. Presidents like Johnson, Eisenhower, and FDR lived and breathed politics while
Obama doesnt work nearly as hard. In Hackneys opinion, if Obama worked with Congress and took the
initiative like Johnson, he could get 80% of what he wanted passed into law.
Moving on from the current Congress, I asked Hackney, if he thought that Congress would still be in a
deadlock come the new term in January. His response was it will force things to a crisis point because if
the Republicans take the Senate . . . then there will be a lot of bills and Obama will spend a lot of his
time vetoing stuff and not getting anything done . . . they wont approve his judges, you just name it.
Thanks to Hackney, it is apparent that things have just begun when it comes to the deadlock in
Congress. Lets face it, personalities are not going to change, the two sides of the spectrum are only
going to continue to grow, and Obama still has two years in office. From Hackneys perspective, it seems
that those two years will only see things grow worse and worse and hopefully next time around we vote
in a guy that lives and breathes politics.

It will force things to a crisis point