Gridlock

Gridlock describes a government that cannot reach agreement on pressing questions, leaving problems unaddressed or handled through short-term patches. The American system makes action difficult by design: a bill must pass two chambers elected on different schedules and be signed by the President or passed over a veto, and in the Senate most legislation needs 60 votes to end a filibuster. Political scientist Sarah Binder, measuring how many salient issues Congress left unresolved, found that the share rose from roughly a third in the late 1940s to more than two-thirds in the 2010s.

Scholars point to several causes, including the growing ideological distance between the parties, frequent divided government, narrow and alternating majorities that give each party a reason to deny the other victories, the routine use of the filibuster, and leadership practices that keep bills without majority support of the majority party off the floor. Gridlock shows up in repeated stopgap spending bills, debt ceiling standoffs, and government shutdowns, including the 35-day shutdown of 2018 and 2019 and the 43-day shutdown that began October 1, 2025, followed by a 76-day lapse in Homeland Security funding in 2026.

Defenders of the system say gridlock is what the framers intended when they divided power, that it prevents hasty or narrowly supported change, and that major laws still pass when broad agreement exists. Critics say it erodes public trust, shifts policymaking to Presidents, agencies, and courts, and leaves long-term problems such as debt, immigration, and entitlement financing unresolved. Proposed remedies include changing the filibuster, budget process reform, nonpartisan redistricting, and different primary systems.