Episode
Congress' Slide Into Irrelevance
- Podcast
- History As It Happens
- Published
- Jul 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2283
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Subscribe now for ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content. Is Congress irreparably broken or temporarily stuck as it fails to act as a co-equal branch of government willing to check a rogue executive? And how did it get this way? In the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, the winds of political change swept young, ambitious reformers into the halls of Congress, and they left an important legislative legacy. But in the decades since, Congress' potential to affect meaningful change — and prevent unnecessary wars — has been whittled away. Maya Kornberg is here to explain why. Maya Kornberg is a senior research fellow at NYU Law's Brennan Center for Justice, and the author of Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress . Further listening: Iran and the Laws of War w/ Adil Haque Obama and Libya w/ Jeremi Suri