Recess shows inertia

The U.S. House and Senate are in recess, with the House scheduled to return on August 31 while the Senate is not expected back until September 14. The House will recess again after addressing a Senate approved Budget Concurrent Resolution that will keep the 2026 FY Budget in place with some additional spending added until Dec. 11,2026. It has become common place for Congress to extend the budget into the next fiscal year because of the inability of Congress to approve the 12 separate appropriation bills covering government discretionary spending prior to the September 30 end of the federal government fiscal year. The current Congressional recess is ordinarily the longest of the recesses that total 140-180 days during a typical calendar year.

Multiple political commentators have criticized this 119th Congress as one of the least effective in the history of our nation in carrying out its lawmaking and oversight responsibilities. While conservative voters celebrated approval of the One Big Beautiful Bill during the first annual session of this Congress, the second annual session has given the Republican majority little in the form of legislation to rally voter support in the 2026 midterm election. Even the One Big Beautiful Bill may haunt Republicans in the midterms as the effects of reduced Medicaid and SNAP funding totaling $1 trillion become evident in each state and individuals find it impossible to continue their health insurance coverage because federal premium subsidies have been removed.

In addition, middle-income earners are discovering that their tax reduction from BBB has been eroded by inflation due in large part to Trump’s war of choice against Iran.

Finally, the budget deficit impact of BBB projected to be $4.1 trillion over 10 years has added worry to both conservative and liberal budget watchers.

The inaction of Congress is not due to the lack of pressing national issues. Social Security and Medicare are both facing imminent funding issues, but no action is being taken.

Legal immigration and asylum policies are in urgent need of reform, but the Republican Congress merely delights in the militarization of our southern border. And the list goes on.

Perhaps exceeding this Congress’s failings in lawmaking has been its failings in oversight of the executive branch.The Republican majority has remained passive as Trump and his minions have dismantled USAID and the Department of Education without authority and allocated hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from the U.S. Parks Department in no-bid contracts awarded to Trump allies to paint Washington, D.C. gold and plug a leak in the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.

The East Wing of the White House was razed on a whim by Trump and $900 million replacement costs are being discussed without a whimper from Congress. We read each day about the brutality and inhumanity of ICE running amuck with its ridiculous new budget, but Congress has failed to investigate.

HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr and his staff have created unnecessary confusion and disarray around NIH funding and vaccine policy while Congress goes on recess.

The president and his family report billions in earnings since Trump’s swearing in in January 2025 but no voice of alarm or even mild concern is expressed. The president has waged an extended war against Iran without Congressional approval but only the minority party insists on a stop to it.

As the November midterm election draws near, the Republican Party enjoys a huge funding advantage over the Democratic Party, which is dealing with friction between the traditional moderate wing of the party and a new highly activated progressive wing. Unless Trump confiscates the ballot boxes, we will know by November 4 if the challenges facing the Democratic Party proved more costly than the failings of the Republican Congress and the unpopularity of a corrupt administration in determining who governs until the 2028 presidential election.