“ the fact that control of congress is now divided , with a republican majority in the house and a democratic majority in the senate , may provide an opportunity for americans of all political persuasions to dislike some aspect of congress .
these statistics make the 112th congress , which president truman called the " do - nothing congress " in 1948 , passed as few laws as the current one , records show .
the difference between 1995 and now is that republicans rebounded in the second year of the 104th congress in 1996 , churning out 245 laws with a democratic president , including a tax cut package , a minimum wage increase , an overhaul of the nation 's welfare system , and requiring law enforcement to disclose where sex offenders live .
in 2011 , after republicans took control of the u.s. house , congress passed just 90 bills into law .
doug heye , a spokesman for house has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points .
just 61 bills have become law to date in 2012 out of 3,914 bills that have been introduced by lawmakers , or less than 2 % of all proposed laws , according to a usa today analysis of records since 1947 kept by the u.s. house clerk 's office .
low approval marks for congress is on pace to make history with the least productive legislative year in the post world war ii era .
the highest mark came in may 2011 , when 24 percent of americans gave a thumbs - up to congress has consistently registered low approval ratings , according to gallup .
a new york times cbs news poll conducted in october found that congress have shown even worse numbers .