If we read the constitution, congress can pass laws without a cooperative president. They just need the votes to override a veto. In practice this used by congress in the past, just as we've seen the constitution amended many times. But more recently, as in post 1960s, we've seen different tactics. Corrupt tactics as you note. If something really needs to be done, a veto can be overridden. The truth is votes are not really decided in the house and senate halls, but by national party agendas - often merging into one dominant party - and that undermines representative system defined in our constitution. You observation regarding Trump's first two years is more evidence of this - the GOP and DNC worked together more or less as one.
As to the Trump vetoes, well, we can't know if the combined party would have overridden because Trump never issued a veto. Which is my main criticism of his time in the WH. While I'm sure on important things like budget and spending his veto would have been overridden it would have put it on the record - and perhaps even put the names of each senator and representative's vote in the record too. But it never happened. Despite all the theatre, Trump ultimately signed every bad spending and budget related bill, including the endless stream of debt ceiling increases and continuing resolutions in place of a budget. Including the 2017-18 disaster that was basically the 2009 budget with even MORE automatic spending increases and assured exponential debt growth.
If we read the constitution, congress can pass laws without a cooperative president. They just need the votes to override a veto. In practice this used by congress in the past, just as we've seen the constitution amended many times. But more recently, as in post 1960s, we've seen different tactics. Corrupt tactics as you note. If something really needs to be done, a veto can be overridden. The truth is votes are not really decided in the house and senate halls, but by national party agendas - often merging into one dominant party - and that undermines representative system defined in our constitution. You observation regarding Trump's first two years is more evidence of this - the GOP and DNC worked together more or less as one.
As to the Trump vetoes, well, we can't know if the combined party would have overridden because Trump never issued a veto. Which is my main criticism of his time in the WH. While I'm sure on important things like budget and spending his veto would have been overridden it would have put it on the record - and perhaps even put the names of each senator and representative's vote in the record too. But it never happened. Despite all the theatre, Trump ultimately signed every bad spending and budget related bill, including the endless stream of debt ceiling increases and continuing resolutions in place of a budget. Including the 2017-18 disaster that was basically the 2009 budget with even MORE automatic spending increases and assured exponential debt growth.