Who Broke the Senate?

Donald Trump’s supporters and critics may not agree on much, except that the former president has been a disruptive force in American politics. Both groups credit Trump for upending business as usual in the nation’s capital. His 2017 pledge to “drain the swamp” and his ongoing effort to transform the Republican Party since leaving office signal to his supporters that he has changed politics for the better by disrupting Washington’s out-of-touch political establishment. Trump’s critics also believe he has upset the political status quo, albeit negatively. In their opinion, his behavior as president and his continued influence over the Republican Party have endangered American self-government.

Critics and supporters alike cite Congress’s recent dysfunction as further evidence of this disruption, arguing that the former president caused the House of Representatives and the Senate to operate differently.

The newly published Disruption? The Senate During the Trump Era brings together 19 authors from various fields to examine Trump’s impact on Congress’s upper chamber.

In my contribution, “Leadership in the Modern Senate,” I argue that the Trump-tinted lens through which millions of Americans view politics regularly distorts what happens inside Congress, especially regarding the Senate. The observed behavior of senators before, during, and immediately after Trump’s presidency demonstrates that the former president did not cause the institution to operate differently. This lack of impact is evident in the persistence of business-as-usual politics within the Senate from 2009 to 2022.

During that time, senators used the same procedural practices to regulate the legislative process regardless of who was president or which party controlled the House and Senate. Democratic and Republican leaders structured the process in a way that limited senators’ ability to debate legislation or offer amendments to bills. Consequently, senators spent their time in quorum calls and voting to confirm presidential nominees instead of adjudicating their constituents’ concerns and casting votes on amendments and bills. In short, the Senate was gridlocked.

But Trump did not cause this problem. The Senate’s procedural record indicates that its leaders managed the institution in a way that made it harder for rank-and-file senators to compromise, miring it in gridlock before, during, and immediately after Trump’s presidency. Compromise emerges from the legislative process when senators debate controversial issues on which they disagree and vote on alternative proposals. By precluding such deliberation, Democratic and Republican leaders made it harder for the Senate to legislate. That alone is why the Senate struggled to pass legislation on salient issues like abortion, gun control, health care, immigration, and voting rights during this period.

If anything, Trump has disrupted our ability to recognize the nuanced and complex issues that have long plagued the Senate. This calls for a deeper understanding of how the Senate functions and what factors contribute to its challenges.