Sen. J.D. Vance (R–Ohio) attempted to shield the Trump administration from criticism during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday by claiming that Congress was not "doing its job." Vance complained that Congress is not a "high-class debating society" but "a forum to govern." Congress has resembled the former more than the latter for decades.
Vance was responding to a question about his past disparagement of former President Donald Trump's failure to deliver his promised agenda of economic populism. After admitting to changing his mind about Trump, Vance pivoted to blame Congress for not cooperating with the Trump administration's legislative agenda. According to Vance, legislators were too busy "whin[ing] about problems" to pass bills on "on the border [and] on tariffs."
