Congressional Gridlock Quotes

But when I look at the fact that today is 1,000 days that we have not had a budget for the United States of America, you know, the House, one of the things we did, we passed a budget last year. But that is still sitting over there at the Senate. And so we have got to get this country back on track.

You run Washington DC though the House. The Senate gets in the way. The President gets in the way.

Here's where I'm different from a senator. We pass continuing resolutions. We pass appropriations bills.

I am a pretty level-headed person, but that person, Harry Reid, has been the most destructive entity in Washington when it comes to civility. By far.

Everybody hates Congress; even Congress hates Congress.

Historically, the minority party in Congress votes against raising the debt limit, forcing the majority party to whip its members into casting politically painful votes in favor.

The middle ground in Congress has all but disappeared. The founders intended competing principles and interests to check excesses and create a balance in our politics that would benefit 'we the people.' Gerrymandered districts and a hyped-up fight-night media offer a partial explanation of why we seem to have neither checks nor balances.

The Senate is no longer a place for any decent man. I am truly sick of Congress.

Washington is designed not to solve problems. Congress is so beholden to the money that any solution in the general interest will be frustrated and subverted by the corporate interests who feel they will be damaged by progress, fair play and justice.

What the 1990s taught the Clinton veterans was that you could 'triangulate' with a GOP-controlled Congress.

I understand the politics of Washington, D.C. You need to hold firm, you need to work with your colleagues, and you need to throw elbows.

The truth is that America has been closely divided politically for quite some time. That was reflected in some of the challenges I had with the Republican Congress.

We can't let 535 people continue to limit the progress of a nation of more than 300 million.

You turn on the TV, and you hear all these guys: 'Republican Party in disarray. Turmoil in Washington.' I don't think that's the case.

There were two unpleasant surprises. One was the inertia of Congress, the length of time it takes to get a complicated piece of legislation through ... and the other was the irresponsibility of the press..

The last thing I will pay attention to is any of the usual Washington back and forth.

Paul Ryan needs to step down as Speaker of the House.

With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership.

Getting one bill passed is close to impossible. Ask any kid who has spent a summer in Washington, or better yet a semester, and can't understand how people tolerate its menu of constant frustration. Imagine mastering it.

Government shutdowns do not actually become what the term implies. Two-thirds of the government cannot shut down. We're only talking about the third of government that's discretionary spending, and even at that, nobody loses their jobs, and nobody loses their Thanksgiving turkey. The whole thing has resulted from the Republican Party thinking they bought the farm back in 1995.

The weak economy, widening income inequality, gridlock in Congress and a presidential election: Those were perhaps the dominant economic and political themes of 2012.

The biggest loser in 2016 was Washington, D.C.

If Mr. Obama wants to get things done, he must recognize that in Washington only the president has the power to make the first big move.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said that Republicans' number one priority was the defeat of President Obama.

I think it was absolutely a mistake for President Obama and Harry Reid to force a government shutdown.