The Framers gave us that Amendment in no uncertain terms, ?Congress shall make no law ... respecting freedom of speech.? They intended to give Congress no leeway in preventing criticism of itself. That barrier has now been breached. That barrier was breached a long time ago, by the Alien and Sedition Acts. Of course, those were probably unconstitutional as well.
The Alien and Sedition Laws were never tested in the Supreme Court. The Court declared almost a century and a half afterwards (in
New York Times v. Sullivan) that the A&S laws "were clearly unconstitutional."
John / Billybob