“That government is best which governs least.”
That famous aphorism delightfully — and somewhat snarkily — illuminates what animated the Founders to form a democratic republic and break with the oppressive rule of the monarchy.
Practically since the day America was born, there’s been a national debate over government’s role.
Historically, on the right there’s been a push toward smaller government — “starve the beast” economic policy, fewer regulations, states’ rights, lower taxes, a leaner social welfare system.
And on the left, there’s typically been more optimism about what government can accomplish if unleashed — more public spending, income and wealth redistribution, more regulation, expanded social safety nets.
Today, we find ourselves in an odd position, where one side isn’t advocating for bigger government or smaller government — but no government at all. That is, a government that is marked less by its size and entirely by its inability to do anything.
Whether we call it intransigence or obstructionism — and neither term is new to Washington — today’s Republicans seem utterly convinced that among their many expectations as members of Congress, solving problems isn’t one of them.
How else can we explain their inability to govern even themselves let alone the country?
The Republican Party writ large, as represented by chaos agents like Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, has prioritized everything BUT solving problems over the past few years.
Division, purity tests, owning the libs, keeping their base angry and afraid, prostrating to Donald Trump, unleashing culture wars, and getting reelected are just some of the things that Republicans have decided are far more important than governing.
On immigration, Republicans infamously just rejected a bipartisan deal that would have given them more than they’ve ever gotten on border security, including things they’ve insisted are an urgent matter of national security.
Instead, they focused on getting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas impeached — before their two week vacation.
And now, as a government shutdown looms, House Speaker Mike Johnson is still refusing to bring an aid package for Ukraine and Israel to the floor, insisting Congress must secure the border first — something, remember, it just punted on.
Johnson has also pushed to move the shutdown deadlines AGAIN, rather than sign any long term funding bills.
While the immigration shenanigans are a perfect example of this Republican Party’s total indifference to governing, it’s hardly the only issue they’ve been unmoved to fix.
After Trump’s Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans had no plan for addressing reproductive health concerns of millions of women and families. The sudden upheaval after 50 years of settled law left many in the crosshairs, from a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim to a Texas mom who required a life-saving abortion. And now, as that ruling also threatens to throw IVF access into limbo, Republicans still have no answers other than “fend for yourselves.”
On gun violence, Republicans have blamed everything BUT guns to avoid bringing any real solutions to the table. After yet another horrific school shooting in Nashville, Greene blamed “hormones like testosterone and medication for mental illness.”
Rep. Tim Burchett admitted candidly, “there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it.”
And just last month, Trump told an Iowa audience to “get over it,” after a school shooting in the state a day earlier.
On climate change, an issue which many younger Republican voters are worried about, GOP lawmakers are more interested in removing the issue from federal oversight, rather than on any solutions that the public sector might be able to offer.
We can blame Trump for a lot of this — he was simply uninterested in policy, and doubly uninterested in solving problems unless it directly benefited him. But the party is now responding to voters who just want their grievances amplified, but not necessarily addressed in any meaningful way, like through policy or legislative solutions.
Being angry at the problem — and explicitly not solving it — is the Republican Party platform.
It’s a strategy that hasn’t resulted in many electoral wins over the past few years. But in running Trump again and digging in their heels, it seems the No Solutions GOP is tripling down on its commitment to do nothing.
I miss the days when we used to argue over how to solve problems, and criticize opponents for merely having the “wrong” solutions. Now, solutions are absent entirely.
To be sure, voters are disappointed in Democrats as well. On the border, crime, and the economy practical solutions have been few and far between.
Unless our parties can turn away from self-preservation and embrace a radical commitment to problem solving, our government — big or small — will remain ineffectual, unproductive, and deeply distrusted.
