Any longtime observer – doesn’t matter Democrat or Republican - of Congress quickly concludes that this Congress is not very good when it comes to meeting legislative deadlines. Like really bad. It’s both parties that are failing to get their jobs done. And both parties are guilty of allowing institutional weaknesses to fester that makes it quite difficult to legislate.
The House, in particular, is a bitterly dysfunctional body right now where party leaders can barely keep the lid on things. The fallout from the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters continues to impact everything and everyone.
There have been some bright spots for LICA members. Passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan early in the year was a major win for President Joe Biden and the Democrats. That the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed the Senate with 69 votes seems like nothing short of a miracle. Proposals to increase conservation funding have worked their way through committee approvals.
But both chambers have also wasted enormous amounts of time and failed to keep up with routine housekeeping. It’s Dec. 2 and the Congress hasn’t adopted any of the 12 annual appropriations bills. The nation may reach its debt limit in less than two weeks. The defense authorization bill -- passed every year for the last six decades -- is unfinished. This is a miserable record, and lawmakers know it.