Looking for a job, but without all that pesky job in it? Trying being a US senator! After already making not doing things the signature accomplishment of this legislative session, Mitch McConnell is doubling-down on do-nothing by laying out the lightest Senate work schedule in more than half a century.
Senate Republicans have left town for another recess with their yearlong claim that the Senate is "back to work" an increasingly tough sell to voters.
... the chamber is on pace to work the fewest days in 60 years, the party continues to insist it won't act on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nomination, and Republicans' ballyhooed strategy to shepherd all dozen spending bills through the chamber is in serious trouble.
With twenty-four of the thirty-four Senate seats up for election belonging to Republicans, and a slim four seat edge in the senior league, McConnell probably figures that his team needs a few extra days at home to work on that message. Though even the most credulous voter probably isn’t going to buy McConnell’s working hard slogan, no matter how many times the Rocky theme is played.
Of course, for dedicated Republicans not doing anything is exactly the selling point, including not acting on Obama's Supreme Court nomination for longer than most nomination processes take to complete. But for people whose anger-meter doesn’t automatically head for eleven at the mention of the name “Obama,” it might be a bit hard to explain how not accomplishing anything is an accomplishment.
Though if senators up for re-election showed up at their next town hall and suggested that everyone should have the same work schedule as McConnell’s Senate, that might win a few votes. We are talking about an institution that considers working on Friday “overtime.”