The Do-Nothing Congress Strikes Again – And the Clock Is Ticking

After taking yet another recess without first clearing the legislative logjam, Congress returns to chambers today. Well, at least a couple of lawmakers will – you see, it’s just another pro forma session, with no real legislative work to be done. They won’t be back for real until July 13, and even then, they won’t stay long. In fact, there are about 17 weeks between now and the general election on November 3, and both chambers plan to work less than half of them.

What’s the problem? Well, they’ve continually failed to pass so-called “must pass” legislation this year, including FISA Section 702 reauthorization, the farm bill, a housing bill, and the National Defense Authorization Act – and to make matters worse, the annual government funding fight has arrived. September 30 comes the same day every year, and unless they manage to get a continuing resolution to the president for signature before then – there simply isn’t time to draft, agree on, and pass all the spending bills anymore – the government will shut down yet again. Look out, America, the 119th do-nothing Congress strikes again.

The Road(Blocks) Ahead

Let’s go back to the Month of May for a moment. Prior to their return in the middle of that month, the House had taken 24 days of recess and the Senate 25, and they had passed very little in the way of major legislation. From February 14 to April 30, the US suffered through the longest partial government shutdown in the nation’s history, as Congress refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security until 76 days after funding lapsed. The ICE and CBP funding was stripped out even then and wasn’t passed until the reconciliation bill of June 9 – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, back to the month of May.

When the House and Senate returned from yet another spring break, they seemed to hit the ground running – determined, one might think, to actually accomplish something. Well, they made a good show of it, but as Liberty Nation News asked on May 15, “Is it real – or just political theater?”  Looking back, it certainly seems to have been the latter – and even that can-do attitude didn’t last. Within a week, Republicans in both chambers balked at the reconciliation bill to fund ICE and CBP and – you guessed it – took another break.

They returned on June 1, sent President Donald Trump his reconciliation bill on June 9, and haven’t done much of anything else since. Well, of course, they’ve taken more days off. But what they have not done is reauthorize FISA Section 702, which officially lapsed on June 12. They haven’t managed to pass the SAVE America Act, one of Trump’s most desired laws. The $1.15 trillion NDAA, the 2026 Farm Bill, and, of course, funding for the federal government, which expires on September 30.

Congress did finally manage to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, but President Trump is so far refusing to sign it until he gets the SAVE America Act. That election security bill – already passed by the House – is the source of so much of today’s congressional conflict. The Senate GOP simply doesn’t have the numbers to overcome the Democrat filibuster without nuking said filibuster, something the majority remains unwilling to do. Now, both President Trump and a handful of Freedom Caucus Republicans in the House are holding legislation hostage until the voting act passes.

So Much Time, So Little Congress

November 3 is 120 days away – 17 weeks and a day – so why can’t Congress get it all done by then? Because of those 17 weeks, the House will only be in session for six and the Senate for seven – with only four of those weeks seeing both chambers in session at the same time.

The House has met for 67 legislative days so far this year, and the Senate 68, and still they have failed to advance these major legislative items. The House only has 29 scheduled working days remaining before Election Day, and the Senate has 25 – and only on 19 of those days will they be working together.

No, instead, the House will work from July 13-23, then recess again from the 24th to August 30, then work again from the 31st to September 25, when they’ll take off until after the election. The Senate will work from July 13 to August 7, then go home and come back from September 14 to October 2. And that’s assuming they don’t get mad or frustrated and call it quits earlier, as they have numerous times this year so far.

Will the do-nothing Congress of the 21st century inspire voters to replace their lazy lawmakers? Either way, what motivation do they have to work any harder afterward? The lame ducks will be headed home in December for good, and the successful incumbents won’t have to face the electorate for another two years. And should Democrats take either chamber come January, President Trump can say goodbye to whatever remains of his agenda.