Click any step to jump to it - the lit step is the one showing below. Congress asserts itself at times and stalls at others, with partisanship and gridlock rising in recent years. Green = Congress asserts power or reforms · Amber = mixed or contested · Red = gridlock, partisanship or shutdown weakens it.
Timeline tucked away while you test yourself. Close the quiz to bring it back.
What happened. Andrew Johnson was impeached in February 1868 for firing Edwin Stanton in breach of the Tenure of Office Act, and acquitted by the Senate by one vote (35-19) in May 1868.
What it shows. Congress reaching for impeachment as a check on the executive. Johnson impeached
What happened. The last formal declaration of war by Congress was in June 1942, against Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Every major conflict since has been waged under presidential authority or broad AUMFs.
What it shows. Congress ceding its constitutional war power to the President. Last war declaration
What happened. The Voting Rights Act 1965 became the federal guardrail against the worst gerrymandering and racial discrimination in elections.
What it shows. Congress legislating to protect fair representation. Voting Rights Act
What happened. The War Powers Resolution 1973 was passed over Nixon's veto, requiring consultation, a 48-hour report and withdrawal within 60 days unless Congress authorises action.
What it shows. Congress trying to claw back control of war-making. War Powers Resolution
What happened. The Senate refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland, Obama's Supreme Court nominee, for eight months until the election.
What it shows. The Senate confirmation power used as a partisan weapon. Garland blocked
What happened. The 2018-19 government shutdown ran 35 days, the longest in US history, part of a pattern of continuing-resolution brinkmanship.
What it shows. Appropriations failure as the headline broken-branch evidence. 35-day shutdown
What happened. The Inflation Reduction Act 2022 committed $369bn to climate and clean energy and passed via reconciliation 51-50 with the Vice President breaking the tie.
What it shows. Congress still able to pass major legislation when it can dodge the filibuster. Inflation Reduction Act
What happened. Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker by a motion to vacate, the first time in US history a sitting Speaker was ousted, with three weeks of paralysis before Mike Johnson was elected.
What it shows. Conference indiscipline and House dysfunction at their starkest. McCarthy ousted
What happened. On 4 March 2026 the Republican-led House voted down a War Powers Resolution on the Iran strikes 212-219, while Trump governed on a House majority of one heading into the 2026 midterms.
What it shows. Congress failing to check unilateral war-making, on a knife-edge. Iran strikes, majority of one
Roll up and down: use the arrows, scroll or swipe inside the box, the up and down keys, or click any step in the arc above.
Read top to bottom, Congress swings between asserting itself and stalling. It reached for impeachment in 1868, legislated to protect the vote in 1965, and clawed at war powers in 1973 - and it still passes big laws when it can dodge the filibuster, as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act shows.
But the recent record is heavy with gridlock. It ceded the war power in fact after 1942, weaponised confirmation in 2016, set the longest shutdown on record in 2018-19, ousted its own Speaker in 2023, and in 2026 could not even block strikes on Iran while governing on a House majority of one.
The same events split by side. Build each paragraph around one point from each column, then judge.
The strongest answers specify the test: Congress is broken on legislation and appropriations but still decisive on confirmation and capable through reconciliation, then judge which function the question is really about.
For "is Congress the broken branch?", build one paragraph on what still works (confirmation, reconciliation laws, the formal checks) and one on what does not (shutdowns, the filibuster, ceded war powers), then judge which test applies.
Pair a date with what it shows, not just its name: 2018-19 = the longest shutdown on record; 2022 IRA = Congress legislating round the filibuster. Pairing is the AO2 mark.