Denouement
Following the climax of the midterm elections, it really looks like Congress is about spent. There is probably not going to be any more legislation of any import coming out of Washington in the little amount of time left in the 109th Congress. Not that anyone should be surprised by that, but the Washington Post pretends that this is somehow news.
Congress will convene on Tuesday for what some fear will be the lamest of lame-duck sessions, and GOP leaders have decided to take a minimalist approach before turning over the reins of power to the Democrats. Rather than a final surge of legislative activity, Congress will probably wrap up things after a single, short week of work. They have even decided to punt decisions on annual government spending measures to the Democrats next year.
"There is a lot of battle fatigue among members, probably on both sides of the aisle," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), usually a reliable conservative firebrand. "Contrary to popular belief, members of Congress are human beings. They have a certain shelf life and a certain amount of energy to be drawn on. We're tired."
Before the midterm elections, GOP leaders had dismissed the Democrats' "do-nothing" label for the 109th Congress as political posturing, promising that a robust post-election session would put the accusation to rest. Instead, Republican lawmakers will have met for one week in November, devoted almost exclusively to leadership elections for next year, and one week in December, largely to pick committee assignments, move offices and pass a measure to keep the government operating through February.
That will mean this Congress will have spent the least time in session of any in at least half a century, according to Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, congressional historians and the authors of "The Broken Branch," a critical look at recent Congresses. In the time they have met, lawmakers have failed to approve a budget resolution or pass at least eight of the 11 annual spending bills.
Congress, regardless of who holds the majority, has been pretty well dysfunctional for many years. But to really expect any action from it with a change of majority coming in January is pretty silly. The Democrats simply will not accede to any controversial legislation getting through when they are about to take control. Even if a bill got forced through the House, it would die in the Senate. As the members themselves realize:
To be sure, Congress will do something this week. Lawmakers have routinely extended a number of business tax breaks every year or so, including a tax credit for research and development and a break for hiring welfare recipients. But that routine was broken this year when GOP leaders decided to link those business-tax-cut extensions to a deep and permanent cut to the estate tax, a link that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) had declared inviolable.
This week, the inviolable link will be broken. The tax extensions will be passed on their own after all, according to legislative aides, perhaps with a multibillion-dollar provision staving off scheduled cuts to physician reimbursements under Medicare.
The House has scheduled a vote on Smith's fetal-pain bill, which, among other things, would require abortion providers to inform patients of the controversial assertion that the procedure may cause pain. Providers would also have to offer anesthesia for the fetus, which the patient would have to accept or reject in writing. But GOP leaders put the measure on the fast track to passage, which means it will need the vote of two-thirds of the House. Even if the bill wins that much support, it will go nowhere in the Senate, Republicans concede.
Likewise, House Republicans on Friday relented on their opposition to a Senate-passed measure opening new territories off the Gulf Coast to oil drilling, with much of the royalty proceeds to be dedicated to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. That, too, will go on the expedited calendar, where it could be sunk by environmentalist lawmakers and Republicans who believe that the bill does not go nearly far enough to open up new frontiers for oil exploration.
So, Congress will lame duck its way out of Washington, this really is no news at all, is it?
By jpe, Sunday, 3 December , 2006 @ 10:34 am
It’s news to me. The last we heard, President Bush and the GOP congress were planning to rush through as much legislation as possible during the lameduck session. Had they not announced that intention, this wouldn’t be news.
The Post certainly didn’t contextualize that news, though, so unless one caught a story about the intended flurry of activity, this story wouldn’t have made much sense.