ElNono
03-22-2016, 01:54 AM
Congress setting new bar for doing nothing
It's gotten so small-ball that one congressman introduced a bill to recognize the significance of magic.
By Lauren French
03/21/16 05:04 PM EDT
Updated 03/21/16 05:40 PM EDT
The biggest achievement in the House last week was a party-line vote to file a brief in a court case. In other action, GOP leaders all but conceded they won’t be able to pass a budget, the party’s first order of business, this year.
Over in the Senate, lawmakers have been busy debating whether it’s good or bad to sit on the president’s Supreme Court nominee for the next nine months.
Call it the Seinfeld Congress — all about nothing. It's gotten so small-ball that one congressman, a chairman of a highly influential committee, introduced legislation last week to recognize the national significance of magic.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all. They are going to need magic to save their party,” joked Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who heads the House Democrats’ messaging arm. “The American people are used to a Republican do-nothing Congress, they are now getting used to a Republican ridiculous Congress.”
All this non-activity comes as the House is set to take a nearly three-week vacation. The Senate skipped town last week.
"This is my eighth year here, and by far this is the thinnest of thin gruel years," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). "We're in session, I think, less than 111 days (for all of 2016) and the time we've been in session, we haven't done much."
House members have griped that their major legislative work a few weeks ago was naming post offices. Last week’s win for Republicans was passing a resolution giving the House authority to file an amicus brief in US v. Texas, the Supreme Court case challenging President Barack Obama's executive orders on immigration. Senior Republican aides say the brief is a big win for House Republicans who've been fighting the president's executive orders for years.
The big action before the House adjourns this week is to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running for another four months — a lowest-common-denominator outcome brought about by Congress' inability to do anything more.
When it comes to more substantive bills — like helping Puerto Rico avoid default, tackling the Zika virus or finding money to help Flint fix its corroded water system — there's been hardly any movement.
Read More: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/congress-supreme-court-budget-do-nothing-221057
It's gotten so small-ball that one congressman introduced a bill to recognize the significance of magic.
By Lauren French
03/21/16 05:04 PM EDT
Updated 03/21/16 05:40 PM EDT
The biggest achievement in the House last week was a party-line vote to file a brief in a court case. In other action, GOP leaders all but conceded they won’t be able to pass a budget, the party’s first order of business, this year.
Over in the Senate, lawmakers have been busy debating whether it’s good or bad to sit on the president’s Supreme Court nominee for the next nine months.
Call it the Seinfeld Congress — all about nothing. It's gotten so small-ball that one congressman, a chairman of a highly influential committee, introduced legislation last week to recognize the national significance of magic.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all. They are going to need magic to save their party,” joked Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who heads the House Democrats’ messaging arm. “The American people are used to a Republican do-nothing Congress, they are now getting used to a Republican ridiculous Congress.”
All this non-activity comes as the House is set to take a nearly three-week vacation. The Senate skipped town last week.
"This is my eighth year here, and by far this is the thinnest of thin gruel years," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). "We're in session, I think, less than 111 days (for all of 2016) and the time we've been in session, we haven't done much."
House members have griped that their major legislative work a few weeks ago was naming post offices. Last week’s win for Republicans was passing a resolution giving the House authority to file an amicus brief in US v. Texas, the Supreme Court case challenging President Barack Obama's executive orders on immigration. Senior Republican aides say the brief is a big win for House Republicans who've been fighting the president's executive orders for years.
The big action before the House adjourns this week is to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running for another four months — a lowest-common-denominator outcome brought about by Congress' inability to do anything more.
When it comes to more substantive bills — like helping Puerto Rico avoid default, tackling the Zika virus or finding money to help Flint fix its corroded water system — there's been hardly any movement.
Read More: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/congress-supreme-court-budget-do-nothing-221057