Congress’ no-good week

Friday marks the beginning of the fourth month since the 119th Congress convened. It’s been 92 days now, and for such a quick start, lawmakers don’t have a ton to show for it.

Tensions are high in the Capitol. The House of Representatives managed to avert a government shutdown, pass the National Defense Authorization Act, and pass a bill recouping money from unemployment fraud, as well as its own version of the budget, but ... that’s about it? With the Senate habitually and reliably doing its own things on its own schedule, there’s still no guarantee that this carefully hammered out, delicately negotiated budget will go as planned.

The first 100 days of any administration will be marked by rapid action, and the Senate isn’t renowned for its speed.

In fairness to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), he’s not working with much: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigned after his election but before he could even be sworn in for a new term, so Johnson’s first day of the new Congress, Jan. 3, 2025, ended with a barely manageable four-seat majority.

After that, he lost Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) to the White House and was only even able to claw upward after two special elections went his way and two Democrats literally died. The realities of this sort of margin are so stark that Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) had to quit her ambition to become ambassador to the United Nations.

Then on Monday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (yet another Florida Republican) bucked the post-COVID messaging of her party and pulled together eight of her colleagues with the House Democrats to hold the floor hostage for the entire week. Luna’s tantrum caused a completely unforced mess for Republicans and forced Johnson to recess until the president himself can hammer out a deal with her to defuse the legislative booby trap she’s placed, which would force a vote on remote voting for members just about as soon as Johnson gavels back in.

(By the way, having alienated the Freedom Caucus and House leadership in one swing, Luna should listen to her last remaining friend — the president — and straighten up.)

On its side of the building, the Senate is faring little better. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) achieved a pretty admirable and rapid succession of wins on a slate of contested White House nominations but seems to have surrendered much of the rest to process. And little is more frustrating than letting “process” play out in public, where different senators seemingly operate on their own planets.

What exactly is the upper chamber's plan for the budget? Thune has just 53 Republicans, and at least a few — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and of course Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — are almost guaranteed to give him hell on any single vote.

To pass the budget, Thune must use reconciliation — a complicated but useful tool that lets you push through legislation with just 51 votes, as long as everything in it pertains to the budget. Both parties seem bullish, and for once, Republicans in the House and Senate are actually speaking to each other. Still, plenty can go wrong.

It’s a painful place to be. Finger-pointing is everywhere, and several lawmakers are being called out for not doing their jobs. (Looking at you, Mike Crapo of Idaho — how’s that Senate budget coming along?) So far, Congress has managed to keep the lights on and the White House grooving, but that’s about it.

Now compare that performance to the administration’s plan: pass border enforcement funding, then move quickly on taxes and a full budget — all within the first 90 days. It’s not great.

Of course, these things take time. The first 100 days of any administration will be marked by rapid action, and the Senate isn’t renowned for its speed. As one Republican staffer conceded, “Well, this is what governing with these kinds of numbers looks like!”

We’re at the high-water mark. The Democrats’ vacancies are going to be filled, the president’s momentum will slow, the pain of reshoring the American economy will start to come home, and the distant midterm elections will grow closer and closer and closer. This is the time. It’s not going to get any easier. The Senate best not forget that reality.

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