Yesterday’s discussion about impeachment raised the question about its impact on the ability of Congress to simultaneously accomplish other legislative objectives. The average over the past quarter century is for 4 percent of the bills introduced into a Congress to ultimately be enacted into law. However, the success rate has been declining (see graph below). There could be several reasons for this decline: • More divisive politics; • Increased use of omnibus vehicles that package together many smaller bills; • Increased use of regulations in lieu of more Congressional acts; and • Simply running out of new things to legislate. It is somewhat unfair to say since it can take two years to move a bill through the...