Why Is Congress Stuck? (with Maya Kornberg)

About this episode

Maya Kornberg discusses the dysfunction of Congress and her new book on political reform efforts.

When crafting the Constitution, the framers believed that Congress would be the most powerful branch of government. Today, its failure to function is the biggest story in American politics. Its retreat from relevance has created a vacuum filled by executive abuse and Supreme Court overreach. Maya Kornberg, senior research fellow and manager at the Brennan Center, has published a new book explaining why reform efforts in Congress have failed and offering a path forward. In Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress , Kornberg chronicles the efforts of congressional reformers over the past 50 years, documents the forces that have kept them from creating meaningful change, and outlines concrete proposals that could make a difference. Recorded on March 16, 2026. Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing , at https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing . The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so that they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

People in this episode

Host: Michael Waldman

Guest: Maya Kornberg

Topics covered

• Congress
• political reform
• executive power
• Supreme Court
• American politics
• government dysfunction

Keywords

• Congress
• political reform
• Maya Kornberg
• Brennan Center
• executive abuse
• Supreme Court overreach
• government

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Brennan Center

Books & works: Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress

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