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The 116th Congress was the least productive since the 1970s

14 December 2020
Dan Ackermann
Data: Quorum; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

"Twitter replaced floor debates in 2020," public affairs software firm Quorum writes in a new report, previewed by Axios, showing the 116th Congress as the least productive since the 1970s.

The big picture: Skyrocketing social media engagement and prolific numbers of bills filed that never went anywhere belie what happens when an increasingly divided and uncompromising Congress collides with an election-year pandemic.

By the numbers: Congress enacted 28 pieces of legislation this year, according Quorum's report. That's far fewer than in any other year since it started tracking the data in 1990.

  • At the same time, Quorum found the highest volume of legislation introduced in an election year since 2000. Election years have lower legislative output, as representatives turn their focus from governing to campaigning.
  • There's still some time for Congress to pass bills, but even an effective and efficient final few weeks will leave 2020 well below previous lows.
  • The 116th Congress (2019 and 2020 combined) will be the least productive since at least the 1970s — the earliest year for which data is available.

Between the lines: Periods of divided government can be expected to yield fewer results. But never have things been less productive than in recent years.

  • Simultaneously, social media use among members of Congress skyrocketed, making for a Washington that's high on noise and low on results.
  • Members posted to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube 785k times this year, compared to 593k in 2018 and 290k in 2016, according to Quorum data.
  • Twitter saw the most use of the platforms — there were more than twice as many tweets as Facebook posts.
  • "With nearly 13% of tweets directly referencing #COVID19 or #coronavirus, social media became an even more critical platform for reaching constituents with other traditional platforms altered by social distancing."

President Trump posted more to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube than any member of Congress this year.

  • Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posted the most to social media of anyone in the Senate, while Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) was the most prolific in the House, the report found.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.