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Well, it turns out the recently concluded 113th Congress wasn’t the least productive Congress in modern history.
It was the second-least productive Congress.
Thanks to a rush of activity in its final days, 296 bills were signed into law during the 113th Congress (2013-2014), as of Dec. 19, barely surpassing the all-time low of 283 enacted during the 112th Congress (2011-2012).
Still, a good chunk of the bills signed into law this year alone – more than 50 – accounted for legislation naming post offices or other federal buildings. So hardly the type of work that would make a Daniel Webster or Tip O’Neill proud.
And the combined productivity of the 112th and 113th – in which Republicans controlled the House and Democrats the Senate – is the lowest of any back-to-back Congresses on record.
Here are the number of public bills signed into law by Congress since 1947:
80th: 906
81st: 921
82nd: 594
83rd: 781
84th: 1,028
85th: 936
86th: 800
87th: 885
88th: 666
89th: 810
90th: 640
91st: 695
92nd: 607
93rd: 649
94th: 588
95th: 634
96th: 613
97th: 473
98th: 623
99th: 664
100th: 713
101st: 650
102nd: 590
103rd: 465
104th: 333
105th: 394
106th: 580
107th: 377
108th: 498
109th: 482
110th: 460
111th: 383
112th: 283
113th: 296 (so far)
SOURCES: Library of Congress, Vital Statistics on Congress