Work three weeks in December? You monster.
And now, in accordance with the usual holiday traditions, it's time for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to let the world's slowest deliberative body know that if they can't get the most basic parts of their jobs squared away, they may have to (shudder)
cancel their pre-holiday plans.
“We may have to be here a third week and everyone should understand that. Our most important task at hand is to pass bills to fund out government, keep it from shutting down,” Reid said on Monday afternoon shortly after the Senate began its last work period of the 113th Congress.
“We have a lot to do. And there isn’t much time to accomplish it. I urge all senators to work hard to complete our work in a timely and efficient fashion. We may have to be here the week before Christmas … and hopefully, not into the Christmas holiday,” he added.
The threat of enshrunkened Senate vacation time has been a leadership staple during the last half-decade, as the thought of personally losing vacation time seems to have become only reliable way to convince otherwise recalcitrant Republicans to keep the government funded. It's also a great way to hear some of the most entitled people in America grouse at the inherent unfairness of having to work the week before the week before Christmas, so that ought to be good for a few quotes.