Rep. Mike Gallagher, who was elected two-and-a-half years ago to Congress, said he thought problems in the institution were bad, but found out after he took office the issues were worse than he expected.
"Congress has systematically surrendered most of its power to the executive branch," the Wisconsin Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "We've given up our power of the purse."
In addition, power has gone from committees and individual members and has become concentrated within party leadership, creating a situation where every two years, people complain about the lack of regular order but "seem unable to fix it," said Gallagher.
"Regardless of who is in charge, which party, which personality, we have to fix the institution, get it working again, get it doing things like basic oversight, passing budgets,and getting individual members to channel their ambition not into raising money and not into getting famous on TV, but rather just doing their basic job in the halls of Congress," said Gallagher.
Meanwhile, under Democratic leadership, Gallagher said he's worried that the next two years will be consumed by attacking Trump, not running the country.
"I think most people even, if they aren't the biggest fans of Trump, most people I talk to in the middle in northeast Wisconsin just want Congress to do its job," said Gallagher."
People from both sides say they want reform, he added, but if the same mistakes keep happening, change won't come.
"I'm not disappointed, I'm motivated to fix the way Washington, D.C. operates, to devolve more power and authority to the states and local level," said Gallagher.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.