Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

A distinctive
feature of social and
cultural life at CMC

 

Why a Stronger Congress Might Save American Politics

Tue, February 17, 2026
Lunch Program
Philip Wallach, in a moderated conversation

According to a recent poll, fewer than one in five Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job. With modern Congress largely absent from many prominent policy debates, recent Congresses have been among the least productive in American history in terms of legislation enacted. Political pundits, scholars, and even members of Congress themselves are increasingly saying that Congress is an irreparable institution that rarely does its job. The scope and scale of Congressional power are undoubtedly waning. In this moderated conversation, Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Scott Sloop '26 will discuss the changing role of Congress, the causes of its decline, why Americans should care, and what lawmakers can do to strengthen the legislative branch and restore the vitality of American democracy.

 

Philip Wallach is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies America’s separation of powers, with a focus on regulatory policy issues and the relationship between Congress and the administrative state.

In his latest book Why Congress (Oxford University Press, 2023), Wallach defends the centrality of Congress in America’s constitutional system, traces the roots of current dysfunction, and suggests how the institution might be restored.

Before joining AEI, Wallach was a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, where he authored To the Edge: Legality, Legitimacy, and the Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis (Brookings Institution Press, 2015). He was later affiliated with the R Street Institute and served as a fellow with the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress in 2019.

Wallach’s scholarly and popular work has been published widely, including in the publications of the Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets, Studies in American Political DevelopmentFortuneNational AffairsNational Review, Law & Liberty, Los Angeles Times, RealClearPolicy, the Bulwark, the Hill, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. A frequent conference participant, he has lectured at William & Mary, the University of Oregon, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and the University of Michigan, among others.

Wallach received a master’s and doctorate in politics from Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University’s College of Social Studies.

(Source: AEI)

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Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

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