Congressional Compromise is Reserved for Congressional Ass.

Congress routinely proves it can cut deals when its own members are at risk, yet struggles to compromise on the issues voters actually sent them to solve. The recent attempt to censure Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) over serious allegations—including a restraining order, disputed military claims, and potential ethics violations—offers a clear example. What started as a Republican-led resolution quickly collapsed when a bipartisan majority voted 310-103 to refer the matter to the Ethics Committee, effectively kicking the can down the road and sparing Mills any immediate consequences. Members who normally can’t agree on the time of day suddenly found common ground when the target was one of their own.

Both parties are guilty of the same pattern. Democrats have quietly shelved or diluted efforts against their own embattled members in the past, just as Republicans now rally to protect Mills or downplay the charges. When personal or political survival is on the line, phone calls get returned, votes get traded, and procedural escapes are engineered with impressive speed. Yet on border security, government funding, disaster relief, or any major legislation that requires real negotiation, the same lawmakers retreat to their corners, issue press releases, and let deadlines slip. The contrast is stark: self-preservation moves at warp speed; the people’s business crawls.

Americans keep seeing the same script—urgent cooperation to save colleagues, endless gridlock on everything else. If members can find bipartisan unity to delay accountability for one of their own, they can find it to pass a budget, secure the border, or lower prescription-drug costs. The ability to compromise clearly exists when the stakes are personal. Voters should demand that Congress start using that same ability when the stakes are national.