What it’s like in a “chaos” Congress and why these lawmakers keep coming back

WASHINGTON – Polarizing. Challenging. A lot of time wasted.

This is how six legislators describe what it is like to be in the EU American house – a particularly tumultuous period in American history that led to management to a standstillplaced them lives in danger and raised fundamental questions about what it means to be a representative in a divided democracy.

And yet they keep going, running re-election.

The Associated Press sat down separately with lawmakers, three Republicans and three Democrats, to hear what things are like on Capitol Hill and what they — and Americans — can do to make things better. They all come from safe districts and are expected to win easily another term.

Here’s who they are, why they first ran for office, and why they keep coming back.

Republicans

Dusty Johnson is the rare lawmaker whose vast district forms an entire state: South Dakota. He ran for office in 2018 because he thought there were “too many losers” in Congress and that he would be better.

Nicole Malliotakis said her background, as the daughter of a Cuban mother and a Greek father, meant she was born into politics. She ran for office in 2020 to provide a “counterpoint” as a Republican from New York City, representing Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Mark Amodei of Northern Nevada, or “Native Nevada,” as he calls it, has been in office since 2011. He said it is his responsibility to provide public services and give back to the state where his family has lived for generations.

Democrats

Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, is from the western region of Philadelphia known as “the mushroom capital of the world.” The daughter of a Holocaust survivor and mother of a queer daughter, she decided to run for office in 2018 after seeing them in tears following the 2016 election of Donald Trump.

Veronica Escobar, from the border city of El Paso, Texas, ran for office to work for her community, but also to tell the “El Paso story” and counter some of the “negative narratives” about immigrants. She won the elections in 2018.

Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress, said his first reaction to running for office was: “Hell, no!” But he realized that his work as a national organizer of March for Our Lives after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting could be transferred to Congress. He won office for the first time in 2022.

So how are you doing?

“Chaos is honestly the word I would use to describe the totality of the Congress,” Frost said. “A lot of wasted time.”

“You have your ups and downs,” Malliotakis said.

Nearly all have been in office through two presidential impeachments, two historic speaker battles in the House of Representatives, the COVID shutdowns and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

“All the things you couldn’t expect happened, happened,” Houlahan said. This year in particular has been frustrating “and in some cases super demoralizing because you’re not here to not do things.”

Amodei said: “I think it’s a plus if you can play well with others. And if you don’t play well with others, this is a bad place to be.”

Escobar, one of the lawmakers trapped in the House of Representatives gallery on January 6, 2021, said: “I’ll tell you: I love my job. I am grateful for my work. It is a tough job.”

What else can Congress do?

“I have a lot of trouble with that,” Houlahan said.

Houlahan said the 435 members of the House of Representatives operate as “independent contractors,” with a small staff and a distinct personality from each office. After a career in the military, as a small business entrepreneur and as a high school chemistry teacher, she said, “I’ve never seen anything like the organizational structure that exists here.”

“Some of those offices have chaos, you know, and some of those offices have a constructive mission,” Houlahan said.

Johnson said it’s the wrong question to ask.

“It’s trash in, trash out,” he said.

“And if the American people continue to elect people who use fear and anger to motivate, we will continue to find it harder than it should be to get things done in Congress,” he said.

Frost thinks that unless there are institutional reforms — campaign finance changes and an end to the Senate filibuster — “we’re going to get caught in this generational cycle of a few steps forward and a few steps back.”

Malliotakis expects this to remain the case for a while.

“The far right does its thing, the far left does its thing, and then everyone else in the middle really comes together to actually govern,” she said.

And what can Americans do to fix Congress?

“Congress is a reflection of what is happening in America,” Escobar said.

“We have families who can no longer talk to each other about politics or government,” she said. “We are drifting so far from what is great about our country and our communities, and Congress has a role to play in fixing that. … But we in our country need to do more of that too.”

Malliotakis said it would help if Americans paid more attention to what their representatives “actually do when they’re in Washington.”

“So many people complain about issues and then vote for the same members over and over again,” she said.

Johnson suggests that Americans list characteristics they would look for in a spouse, a boss, a pastor or a child, and use them when choosing a representative.

“Congress can’t fix Congress,” he said. “The American people can fix Congress.”

Are you concerned about your safety?

“We’ve all received death threats,” Malliotakis said. “Obviously it’s a polarizing time right now.”

Escobar said she has stopped holding large town hall meetings because of concerns about gun violence.

“I worry that every time I am with my constituents, one of my constituents could get hurt,” she said. “And I fear that my presence at a large gathering could endanger the safety of someone else.”

Houlahan said the risks of violence come with the job.

“This is a job that puts us at risk,” she said. “It’s terrible that we’re in that place, and we as leaders should condemn it, not encourage it.”

She said: ‘But it is absolutely my expectation that this is not a safe job.’

Frost said the threats he receives as a member of Congress are not new to him. “And I think of course it just shows the tone and this kind of violent culture that exists within American politics.”

What are the best parts of your job?

All things said: getting things done – even small victories. Especially the small victories, because that’s about all Congress can accomplish these days.

“There’s no other feeling like it,” Frost said.

He described standing at the White House for the launch of the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention. And the “joy” he felt when he heard the administration would approve a second passport office in Florida, something voters were asking for even before he came to Congress.

Amodei mentioned the work he has done for a monument Helicopter pilots from the Vietnam War at Arlington National Cemetery. “That’s neat.”

“The best days are days when you really feel like you’ve cast an important vote,” Johnson said, whether it’s certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election or “ensuring that we don’t have any of these having silly, stupid dumpster fires.” .”

“My role as a legislator is to find a solution,” Escobar said. “It may not be the perfect solution… I have voters who get mad at me for saying that, but progress is incremental.”

And the worst?

“I travel about 5,000 miles a week,” Amodei said.

But what’s “worse is when you feel like you’re here and your time is being taken for granted,” he said.

Why do you keep coming back?

“I keep coming back because it’s work that matters,” Johnson said.

“I love what I do,” Malliotakis said, adding that she wants to “do a great job for our constituents.”

Houlahan said she envisions a future where Congress turns a corner.

“I’m staying because I hope we will find ourselves again,” she said. “And I hope I can be part of that.”

Frost said, “If we relinquish our civilian power, our opposition will gladly step in for us.”

“The way this institution works must reflect the wants and needs of the people. And so… that’s why we have to keep coming back.”

Is Congress important?

“Anyone who would act like Congress doesn’t matter is so naive as to be a bad citizen,” Johnson said. “The reality is that we are all casting votes that will change the trajectory of this country.”

Amodei said, “Well, that’s a fair question, but do you think Social Security is important if you’re over 65? Do you think Medicare is important?…Do you think our borders are important?”

He said he has the “uber-cynics” who say, “You guys are such dysfunctional assholes that we need to get rid of you all.” It’s like, okay, so tell me what your plan is.

“Everything we do here in Washington, DC, in Congress affects every citizen in this great country,” Escobar said.

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Mascaro is an AP congressional correspondent. Pesoli is an AP video journalist.