The system is broken and wont be fixed any time soon. Anyone who thinks a combined total of 546 people making laws and doing "the peoples" work isnt a problem, is part of the problem. We need to triple the number of people in the house, leave the senate alone, and then grow the supreme court to 27. This would start to fix our country.
The Senate is a big part of the problem. North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Alaska and Wyoming combined have five times as much representation and influence in the Senate as California, despite having 1/10th of the population. Since laws need Senate approval, the Senate is so heavily slanted toward empty land and the Senate has the filibuster that requires 2/3rds support to overcome, it basically guarantees almost no laws can actually pass. Since governance still needs to happen, the executive branch has taken more and more power. Change the Senate to actually be representative and it would go a long way toward fixing some of this.
Of course, much like term limits for Supreme Court justices, such a change would require a constitutional amendment, which would in turn require the minority to voluntarily surrender their outsized power over the majority. So, it would take some kind of 1 in a 1,000 year event for Congress and the state legislatures to get the kind of supermajority required to actually fix this stuff.
The senate is not and never has been for the people. They do what is best for their state. Having senators voted for by the people is one of the worst things to happen in our republic.
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u/ShanGus7 Aug 29 '26
If it happens, should be shorter.