My new book – Why We Follow Leaders – and Why We Don’t – will be published in October. It gives the reasons why usually we follow – and why occasionally we don’t. This post is in keeping with the theme.
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Nothing will baffle future historians more than why America’s “legislative branch descended into total dysfunction.” Why Congressional Republicans allowed President Trump to neuter them – “to dictate what they did, what they didn’t do, and even how they behaved.” Why was Trump able to neuter them so that instead of being his equals, as the Constitution mandates, they became his toadies.
This post is based on a recent article in the New York Times by Robert Draper, “How Congress Fell Apart.”* It extracts from Draper’s piece explanations for why congressional Republicans turned craven. To be clear, they did not morph from one thing into something else only on account of Trump. There is context here, such as, in the early aughts, the upstart, right-wing Tea Party movement disrupting Congress’s business as it had traditionally been done. Still, most of the reasons why congressional Republicans bend at the waist to the president are personal.
- Fear. Draper quotes former Republican Congressman Fed Upton, “The White House starts to turn the screws. Then you start getting threats on social media. I’ve had very serious threats to my home. … Today it’s worse than ever.”
- Normalization. Behaviors that used to be out of bounds have been normalized. Whereas these behaviors used to be unacceptable, now they are acceptable. They include bragging, insulting, threatening, using foul language, self-dealing, and habitual, shameless lying.
- Pugilism. Whereas once congressional norms rewarded perceived virtues such as compromise, conciliation, and civility, now it’s the opposite. Draper quotes another former Republican Congressmen, Michael McCaul: “You’re elected not to get along with the other side and get good things done for the country. You’re elected to fight and kill the other side.”
- Timeframe. American politics has always been framed, foreshortened, by the electoral cycle. But, thanks to social media, members of congress are now tempted by instant, constant gratification. Equally they dread instant, constant vilification.
- Leadership as Followership. McCaul further pointed out that Speakers of the House used to be, themselves, leaders. No longer. Incumbent Speaker Mike Johnson is famously without congressional clout and, more famously, a puppet of the president. Johnson is craven – preferring to sit placidly on his perch rather than risk Trump pushing him from it.
Unraveling one of the mysteries of the human condition – why much more often than not we kowtow to people in positions of authority. Even, sometimes, when we hate their guts.
*https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/magazine/congress-trump-midterms.html