Stuck, New Book on Fixing Congress, by Brennan Center’s Maya Kornberg, Coming March 10

In this time of executive abuse of power and eroding trust in government, Dr. Maya Kornberg argues that Congress must be revitalized if American democracy is to survive. Her book Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress (Johns Hopkins University Press, March 10) examines why Congress has become increasingly unable to govern, even as public demand for change intensifies. Dr. Kornberg charts a path for Congress to regain the strength it needs to represent the American people effectively.

Drawing on fifty years of congressional history and extensive interviews with lawmakers, Kornberg, a political scientist and senior research fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, identifies the factors that undermine the institution’s capacity to act.

In Stuck, Kornberg looks at the “Watergate Babies” of 1974 and the classes of 1994 and 2018, three cohorts of new members that came to Congress with a reform agenda and momentum behind it, only to face significant obstacles that have grown over time. She tells the stories of influential members, past and present, and their efforts to make legislative change for the country, people like Kelly Armstrong, Phil English, Andy Kim, Toby Moffett, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lauren Underwood, and Henry Waxman. Kornberg shows how each class of reformers tried to move the barriers in their way and fell short.

To put Congress back on track, Kornberg recommends reforms that address the largest hurdles before today’s members as they try to legislate. She proposes fixes to such problems as:

Increasing political harassment and violence: Since January 6, 2021, threats against lawmakers have surged. Kornberg explains how harassment and violence have constrained congressional behavior, with members canceling in-person town halls and otherwise weighing personal and family safety when making decisions about how and if they govern.
Runaway campaign costs and relentless fundraising demands: The Supreme Court’s harmful campaign finance rulings and record-breaking election spending have locked members into a cycle of nonstop fundraising with far too little time to legislate. Meanwhile, Congress’s institutional expertise is weakening, pushing leglisators to rely increasingly on outside actors for guidance on policymaking.
Opportunities and pitfalls of social media: Social media, while expanding options to connect with constituents, has also created an incentive structure that rewards spectacle over substantive policymaking. It has intensified these pressures, amplifying harassment — especially at the expense of women, members of color, and younger legislators.
Centralized party leadership: Legislative power has become so concentrated at the top of each party that bills often go to a vote quickly rather than go through the traditional committee process with its hearings and deliberations. As a result, newer members have less clout in legislative matters than their counterparts a few decades ago.

In Stuck, Kornberg presents concrete solutions to these and other problems that are preventing Congress from reining in executive overreach and delivering for the American people.

About the Author

Maya L. Kornberg, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow and manager at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. She is the author of Inside Congressional Committees: Function and Dysfunction in Lawmaking (Columbia University Press, Feb. 2023), and in addition to scholarly work, her commentary has been featured in The Hill, Newsweek, Scientific American, Slate, and The Washington Post, and she has appeared on BBC, CBS, CSPAN, NPR, and other outlets. She has taught political science at New York University, Georgetown, and Oxford, and worked at the United Nations and Inter-Parliamentary Union and at several democracy focused nonprofits. Kornberg holds a BA from Stanford University, an MPA from Columbia University, and a PhD in politics from Oxford University.

Praise for Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress
Hardcover, John Hopkins University Press, March 10, 2026, ISBN: 9781421454580, 280 pages

“Generations pass, old people depart, young people arrive. So why, given this logical order of time, do party leaders in Congress seem to be unable or unwilling to let their young colleagues have a share of the power?… A useful explanation for political stalemate — and a cry for reform to let younger voices have their say.” ― Kirkus Book Reviews

“Over the past 50 years, increased demands on congressional representatives and senators to fundraise and woo donors, a concurrent staggering decrease in funding for staff and resources, and threats of violence and social media vitriol resulting from rising polarization, have led to a highly dysfunctional congress, according to this astute debut study…The takeaway for Kornberg is that ‘Congress is always changeable, shaped and reshaped by the people who walk its halls.’ It’s an encouraging guidebook for the upcoming midterms.” ― Publishers Weekly

“Kornberg’s vision of reform is rooted in inviting smarter conversations — not louder ones.” ― Forbes

“By tracing the evolution of Congress from the Watergate class of 1974 through the Trump revolution, presents timely insights into why the current Congress is ceding its authority to an expansive executive. Essential reading for anyone eager to better understand today’s political dynamics.” ― Andrea Mitchell, Chief Washington Correspondent for NBC News

“For every American frustrated with a Congress that has become ‘stuck,’ this book is vital. Maya Kornberg provides a spirited analysis of changemaking cohorts of legislators, with special attention to the transformative impact of the Watergate babies’ class of 1974, and offers a roadmap to revitalize Congress while curbing excessive presidential power.” — Julian E. Zelizer, New York Times bestselling author of In Defense of Partisanship

“As a former member of Congress dedicated to improving the institution, I know how urgent it is to fix our politics. This lively and insightful book captures the experiences of politicians trying to make change, offers thoughtful analysis of distortions in our political system, and suggests pragmatic solutions to strengthen our democracy.” — Derek Kilmer, former member of Congress and Chair of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress

“Maya Kornberg has written an important book about how to make Congress work better. This is not the standard academic tome. Focusing on the largest groups of newly elected members over the past fifty years, she identifies obstacles and suggests solutions. A useful and readable exploration of a critical problem.” — Elizabeth Holtzman, former member of Congress and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Congresswomen’s Caucus

“Stuck is a powerful reminder that the existence of political violence is not new, but in today’s political environment, campaign money and media (especially social media) have added fuel to the burning fire. Stuck is a must-read to understand the barriers to change in today’s Congress while also offering seeds of hope for getting unstuck.” — Donna Edwards, former member of Congress and Executive Director of the Center for a New Democracy

“A clever construct and many insightful interviews with members from three pivotal congressional classes enable Maya Kornberg to trace change in Congress, in the broader political context, from 1974 until today. A valuable contribution to our understanding of Congress.” — Norman Ornstein, New York Times bestselling author of One Nation Under Trump, American Enterprise Institute

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