As debates over executive power heat up, critics are calling on Congress to assert its constitutional authority over foreign policy. On The Megyn Kelly Show, host Megyn Kelly highlighted conservative commentator Mark Levin's insistence that JD Vance and the administration seek legislative consent for a recent diplomatic memorandum of understanding. Kelly noted that Levin "demands that this be treated like a treaty to where now you have to get congressional approval for the MOU".
On the domestic front, the institution's regulatory decisions are facing sharp criticism for harming vulnerable communities. Speaking on The Shawn Ryan Show, actress and advocate Jen Lilley detailed her efforts when she and Dr. John DeGarmo went to Congress in 2020 to advocate for foster care reform. Lilley argued that well-intentioned federal mandates often backfire, explaining that "Congress decided" to restrict prevention funding to programs backed by high scientific data, which ended up disqualifying smaller, common-sense local initiatives.
Podcasts are also looking back at historic legislative battles to understand the limits of congressional power. On Stuff You Should Know, co-host Josh Clark recalled the bipartisan effort to save the Fairness Doctrine, noting that "a bipartisan-supported bill that got passed in Congress to codify the Fairness Doctrine" was ultimately vetoed by President Ronald Reagan. Meanwhile, on Revisionist History, host Malcolm Gladwell recounted how Reconstruction-era Republicans managed to "force the president to formally submit Carl Schurz's report to Congress" to bypass President Andrew Johnson's attempts to hide the truth about the post-Civil War South.
Yet, legislative intervention has also yielded historic victories for worker safety. On Morbid, co-host Alaina Urquhart highlighted how Congress eventually stepped in to pass the Occupational Disease Act and later a 1949 bill allowing compensation for the Radium Girls, showing that legislative action can eventually force accountability even when local communities fail to act.