As the month-long August recess approaches, congressional Republicans are growing more desperate by the day. For all those promises of health care repeal and tax reform and money magically raining down on their constituents once they had total control of Congress, they've got nothing to show for it but some regulation roll backs.
Their failure to advance the "mean" health care repeal bill otherwise known as Trumpcare has really stopped things up. They really need to get that on the books because making progress on tax reform and the 2018 budget resolution are both partially dependent on it. In order to pass health care through reconciliation rules that only require a simple majority, they need to use the vehicle that was set up in the 2017 budget resolution. The Hill writes:
With the party still sharply divided on healthcare and tax reform, it looks increasingly possible that Republican lawmakers will leave town in July for a monthlong break without any major accomplishments under their belts.
“I think there’s a majority that probably supports being here,” said Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), referring to the possibility of canceling or cutting short the August recess.
He said GOP lawmakers need to make progress on the budget and spending bills to avoid a government shutdown scenario in September, as well as progressing on tax reform.
Perdue's suggestion appears to be more popular among newer members of the Senate, while longtime Congress members are more inclined to business as usual—meaning time off, regardless of productivity.
“Congress has no business taking a recess when the people’s business remains unfinished,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.).
A Senate GOP aide expressed doubt, however, that Perdue, Sullivan and Daines will get very far in convincing McConnell to cancel the recess.
Okay, that appears to be going nowhere.
Another sign it won't happen: the idea is growing on White House officials, like Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
In the same briefing he noted that the White House has not yet figured out a strategy for raising the federal debt limit, another big item sitting on the agenda.
So Mulvaney supports keeping lawmakers in Washington, but he's come up with no conceivable plan to raise the debt ceiling. Maybe Trump can just personally finance buying fidget spinners for lawmakers so they'll have something to do while they sit out the August recess at their desks.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said there is support for staying through the summer to ensure that appropriations bills are marked up. [...]
"I think it’s really important that people understand that Congress is working. We are producing a lot of legislation," he added.
Except they're not producing "a lot" of legislation. Their major legislative wins amount to zero at present. But if Senate Republicans manage to jam through health care repeal, more House Republicans might see the wisdom of staying.
Chip Saltsman, a Republican strategist, said the worst thing Republicans could do would be to go back to their home states for a monthlong recess if they fail to pass the ObamaCare repeal.
“If you’re going back and you’re meeting with constituents, what can you point to and say, ‘This is what we’ve done after the first six months of controlling the entire apparatus of the federal government'?" he said.
That's a distinct possibility.