On January 20, it was reasonable to suggest that the legislative output of Donald Trump’s second term would be as thin as the first, primarily due to the unwieldiness of the Republican coalition. The recent history of the House of Representatives suggested total dysfunction; they couldn’t even keep a Speaker for an entire term. House Democrats provided deciding votes for essentially all the major bills in 2023-2024, amid splits between mainstream Republicans and the House Freedom Caucus.

For a while, it seemed like Trump was operating on the principle that Congress was not worth dealing with. He could rule through edicts and executive orders and never trifle with the need to pass laws. The Supreme Court was all too willing to give whatever he scribbled on paper the force of law, anyway, so why bother with Capitol Hill.

But Trump eventually realized that Republicans in Congress were as willing to shrink in subservience to him as the Roberts Court. That includes the Freedom Caucus, whose vaunted principles no longer exist, if they were anything beyond cheap talk. Already they have passed a presidency’s worth of lawmaking in one deeply unpopular bill, with little pushback. This week, Republican lawmakers decided to hand over the power of the purse to the president, while rubber-stamping action on crypto that Trump is openly and brazenly using for self-enrichment.

On their own, these are not surprising outcomes. The Big Beautiful Bill cut taxes for the rich and social safety net supports for the poor; what Republican would be opposed? The appropriations-killing bill was filibuster-proof and only cut funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, two things that had become so demonized by the right-wing media machine that their demise was virtually assured in a Republican government. And the crypto industry has fully purchased Washington; the crypto PAC Fairshake unsubtly announced it had amassed $141 million for the 2026 midterms the same week that votes on bills they wanted came up in the House.