Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a shot at Congress recently, calling its 2025 accomplishments "paltry."

DeSantis, a Republican, was responding to a Washington Post story that said, "With fewer than 40 bills signed into law as of Dec. 22, the House and Senate set a modern record for lowest legislative output in the first year of a new presidency."

DeSantis said legislative production should not be measured by number of bills passed.

"Congress is apt to create more problems through legislation than it solves," DeSantis said.

"That said, the paltry production by the current Congress is noteworthy because so much meat is still left on the bone," he added.

DeSantis also criticized Congress for failing to do its job of protecting the Constitution.

"Madison wrote in The Federalist than in republican systems of government, the legislative authority 'necessarily predominates,'" he said.

"But that presumed that each branch would zealously guard its authority against encroachments by the other two," DeSantis added.

"The modern Congress has failed to guard against encroachments, but it has also intentionally subcontracted out its core functions to the bureaucracy," he continued.

In a Wall Street Journal editorial Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the legislative session "one of the most productive first years of any Congress in our lifetimes," noting they passed 441 bills, voted to codify 70 of President Donald Trump's executive orders, and repealed 23 regulations enacted by President Joe Biden.

"Even with the slimmest of congressional majorities and historic obstruction from Democrats, President Trump and Republicans have kept our promises, restored order and laid the groundwork for an extraordinary new year — from containing the border crisis and stabilizing inflation to securing historic tax, trade and peace deals," Johnson wrote.

But DeSantis remains unimpressed.

"Congress is content to be a mere observer of the constitutional system rather than a player inside of it," he said.

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