I suspect that idiom means just the opposite of what you think it means. By "thankfully" I infer that you are relieved that the vast majority of political activity, "below the surface" of what is seen on TV, is nowhere near as reprehensible. Whereas "tip of the iceberg" is generally used to imply that the visible problem is merely a fractional indication of the much greater and uglier problem that lies beneath, being of the same matter and type of that which has already been seen.

Ah correct, I did misuse it. Thank you.

I'm not sure I agree. I think mundane issues become partisan whenever they become political, but many mundane issues are still just dealt with by whatever bureaucrat or official is just doing their job applying the law.

In my experience with the US Federal Gov't (through my wife and family) applying the boring law is the norm, and what's not normal is when political actors inject themselves or create a narrative about an issue to suit their purpose. US Federal Employees are deeply apolitical as a workplace culture.

We see a lot of the latter, but there's only so much bandwidth for it. Most work is boring and getting done in a professional manner