The (really) do-nothing Congress
Sen. Tom Carper had been wavering over the “nuclear option” for days — until one of his colleagues issued a blunt judgment of Congress.
“My colleague said, ‘It’s hard to imagine it getting much worse because we’re not getting anything done,’” the veteran Delaware Democrat said. “If there was an a-ha moment, that was probably it.”
Continue Reading
Indeed, the 113th Congress is on track to go down as the least productive in history — a legacy that may be cemented after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gutted the filibuster on presidential nominees by deploying the “nuclear option.” Republicans say the unprecedented move will make them even less likely to cooperate with Democrats — not that there’s much collaboration to begin with.
So far, this Congress has only enacted 49 laws, the fewest since at least 1947, when the Congressional Record began tallying legislative activity on a yearly basis. In fact, the 80th Congress — famously dubbed the “do nothing” Congress by President Harry Truman — enacted 388 public laws by July 1947.
In the last 66 years, there are just four occasions in which fewer than 100 laws were enacted by a similar point in the legislative calendar. And two of those instances were in the last two Congresses, with the previous Congress making just 62 laws through November 2011.
The dysfunction is partially the result of the toxic relationship between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans, which helped trigger the first government shutdown in 17 years last month and a series of flirtations with a historic debt default.
The slow pace of legislating comes despite huge problems facing Washington: A $17 trillion debt, the prospects of a second government shutdown in mid-January, the bumpy rollout of the health care law and overseas threats from places like Iran. Meanwhile, congressional inaction on a new farm bill is poised to upend rural America and send milk prices soaring. Even legislation that would seem to appeal to some in both parties — like an immigration overhaul — is stuck.
Both sides are embarrassed by their performance, even if they are quick to assign blame to the other.
“If I look at the last 12 weeks, we can count on one hand what we’ve achieved,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “We put the government back in business thank goodness, but beyond that the strategic helium reserve bill is really the centerpiece of what we’ve done.”
There is still a glimmer of hope to get some major bills through, including the long-overdue overhaul of farm policies, the annual defense policy bill, the comprehensive immigration bill, a budget deal and an omnibus spending package. And some bills have made it to the president’s desk, including a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and a measure addressing student loan rates.
But the farm bill’s chances for passage this year took a big hit this week, the emotional politics of an immigration overhaul may kill it next year and any budget deal is expected to be limited in scope.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) warned that the defense bill could join the long list of proposals that fail in the 113th Congress — even though an annual Pentagon authorization measure has passed Congress every year for the last 51 years.
“I do not know if it will be done,” McCain said. “I know [the nuclear option] puts a chill on the entire United States Senate.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), McCain’s closest friend in the Senate, added Thursday: “I just think after today, legislating’s going to be pretty tough.”
Not that it wasn’t already.
Part of the problem is structural. The schedules of the GOP-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate aren’t well coordinated, which can make efforts at bicameral meetings and consensus-building sessions more difficult. On Friday, the Senate began a two-week recess, while the House is expected to be out for just one week before adjourning for the year on Dec. 13. The Senate barely works on Fridays. In 2013, the Senate has been in session for legislative business on just seven Fridays.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/the-do-nothing-congress-100274.html#ixzz2llRe58LT
No comments:
Post a Comment