[runako]

Congress is dysfunctional because there is a populist political movement that does not believe in governing. Eventually, that fever will break. (Or they will succeed and we will lose the republic, in which case discussions about the efficacy of Congress become moot.)

[cryptonector]

I don't think so. People have been complaining about Congress' dysfunction for decades, even when it was fully in the hands of one or the other party. I don't think Congress' dysfunction has anything to do with partisanship. And yes, "populists" get to have a voice -- that's what it means to have a representative democracy and republic. If "populists" (or whatever) need to be negotiated with, so be it, but it's not intransigence that makes Congress dysfunctional. I suspect the problem here is that you want activist agencies to ratchet-like interpret power delegations ever more broadly as long as you agree with those interpretations, but that is a very risky game.