It's Friday, August 26, and Day 194 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell decided no nominee would get any Senate attention: No meetings, no hearings, no votes. It's also Day 163 since Merrick Garland was nominated by President Obama to fill that vacancy.
As their seven-week break from doing the work of the people (hahahahahaha!!!!) winds down, Mitch McConnell's Senate majority is intent on just one thing—making sure that President Obama can't do his job while they're away. Here's Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) showing up earlier this week, 18 minutes late, for a pro forma session of the Senate.
When Paul did arrive, he conferred briefly with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, then rapped an hourglass-shaped, ivory gavel on the desk, signaling the session started. The Kentucky Republican immediately asked the Senate reading clerk to announce a communication, which designated Paul as the senator authorized to preside.
The clerk no sooner finished reading the notice before the senator ended the encounter.
“Under the previous order, the Senate stands adjourned until 10 a.m. on August 26, 2016,” intoned Paul.
A pregnant pause ensued. From her seat on the rostrum, MacDonough wheeled around to clasp her hand on the ivory gavel. The gesture reminded Paul to tap it once against the desk to formally bring the assemblage to a close. The senator did so.
Thirty-four seconds in total, albeit 18 minutes late. Leave it to the United States Senate to take 18 minutes to do something that consumed a scant 34 seconds.
The point of the exercise is avoiding going into actual recess, and to deny President Obama the opportunity to appoint Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court as a recess appointee. They have a stable of senators—who are nominally supposed to be at home during this "district work period" talking and listening to the people who elected them—who hang around D.C. the whole time to pop in every third day to make sure Obama doesn't do his job. All so they can give Donald Trump the opportunity to appoint the next Supreme Court justice.
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