Dwain Northey (Gen X)

At what point do the American people—especially the most devoted MAGA supporters—stop and ask a simple question: What are our elected representatives actually accomplishing with our tax dollars?

Congress has an enormous list of responsibilities. The national debt continues to climb. Housing affordability is a crisis. Healthcare costs remain out of control. Infrastructure needs constant investment. Artificial intelligence is transforming the workforce. Water shortages threaten the Southwest. Those are the kinds of problems Congress was elected to solve.

Instead, far too much of Washington’s energy seems devoted to political theater.

We have members of Congress talking about bringing Special Counsel Jack Smith up on charges for allegedly misleading Congress during testimony. Whether one believes he was right or wrong, much of the controversy centers on whether his answers were sufficiently complete or whether he should have volunteered information beyond the questions he was asked. If Congress wants complete answers, then it should ask complete questions. If someone lies under oath, that is a serious matter and should be addressed through the legal system. But if the objective is simply to score political points, then taxpayers are funding another spectacle instead of another solution.

Then there is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has spent years answering questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic’s earliest days occurred in 2019 and 2020. Mistakes were made by governments, scientists, politicians, and public health officials across the world as everyone tried to understand a rapidly evolving virus. There is value in conducting oversight and learning lessons for future pandemics. There is far less value in repeatedly calling the same witnesses before Congress if the goal is simply to replay old political battles rather than uncover new facts.

And somehow, years later, we are still hearing attempts to relitigate the 2020 presidential election. Courts across the country considered dozens of election-related lawsuits after that election, with many claims being rejected or dismissed. Congress certified the election, states certified their results, and the country moved on. Yet some politicians continue returning to the same arguments, as though replaying the past is somehow a substitute for governing in the present.

Every hour spent revisiting settled political grievances is an hour not spent addressing inflation, wages, healthcare, education, veterans’ services, infrastructure, immigration reform, or preparing the country for future economic and technological challenges.

Oversight is one of Congress’s constitutional responsibilities. Legitimate investigations are necessary in any healthy democracy. But oversight should be conducted to uncover facts, improve government, and hold officials accountable—not simply to generate headlines, satisfy partisan audiences, or keep old controversies alive indefinitely.

The question voters should ask is not whether they agree with every witness or every investigation. The question is whether these hearings are producing better government.

Are they making Americans healthier?

Safer?

More prosperous?

Or are they simply producing another viral video clip for social media?

Public office is supposed to be about solving tomorrow’s problems, not endlessly replaying yesterday’s political fights. Americans are paying their representatives to govern. At some point, regardless of party, voters should expect Congress to spend more time writing solutions than rehearsing grievances.

That is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue.

It is a governance issue.