CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
Oct. 21, 2011 – 9:57 p.m.
New House Calendar Criticized as Stoking Conflict, Reducing Productivity
By Richard E. Cohen, CQ Staff
The testy partisan relationship between the House and Senate has been compounded this session by scheduling changes Republican leaders made before they took control of the House in January.
Antagonism between the chambers is nothing new, but by promoting a fuller work week when lawmakers are in Washington in exchange for more weeklong breaks that allow House members to be visible in their districts, the new schedule has put the two chambers on different calendars and has made collaboration even more difficult.
“Neither chamber wants to admit that the other is vital,” said Rep.
The conflicting schedules have raised concerns inside and outside Congress that the disjointed calendars are dampening prospects for bipartisan cooperation and reducing legislative productivity.
“Less time in Washington makes it less of a home for legislators. There is a value for members of Congress to be more connected to Washington,” said Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. “The drastic reduction in the interaction between members makes it more difficult to have negotiation and compromise.”
The schedule also has cut into the amount of time lawmakers have to work on legislation requiring bicameral collaboration.
It has not improved Congress’ record of clearing appropriations bills — the one task Congress is required to complete each year. None of the 12 spending bills for fiscal 2012 have been enacted, though the fiscal year began Oct. 1. Missing the beginning of the 2012 fiscal year required enactment of a stopgap spending law (PL 112-36), and another will likely be needed when the current measure expires Nov. 18.
Forty-three bills have been signed into law this year, less than half the average first-session total for congresses since 1991. The figures for 1995 and 2007, the years following the last two shifts in control of the House, were 88 and 180, respectively.
A number of factors account for the limited output—including the slow pace of legislative action in the Senate and next year’s elections.
Still, the chambers’ alternating weeks away from Washington have made coordination difficult.
Voicing Objections
Scheduling uncertainty has generated grumbling from institutions that deal with Congress — including executive branch officials, lobbyists and the news media. Such concerns have a low priority with GOP planners. “We heard that. We don’t have much sympathy,” Capito laughed.
The House returns Monday from a weeklong recess just as the Senate begins its own break — the second instance of consecutive alternating schedules this year. Nine times this year, one chamber has skipped town for the week while the other has been in session. The conflicting schedules became such a problem in July that each chamber cancelled scheduled recesses under pressure to resolve the debt ceiling standoff. So far this year, the House and Senate have been in session together for 25 weeks.
New House Calendar Criticized as Stoking Conflict, Reducing Productivity
Some Democrats have criticized the new scheduling. Scott Lilly, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former senior House Democratic aide, told the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this month that “this Congress decided to go on vacation” rather than taking time to conduct detailed reviews of budget requests. The House has set aside only a handful of days each month for hearings, briefings and meetings to examine spending proposals, he added.
Former Colorado Democratic Rep. David E. Skaggs, who has promoted initiatives to encourage congressional civility, said serving in the House requires lawmakers to spend time in Washington. “The institution needs its members to have enough time to get to know each other well enough to get beyond the adversarial and — maybe — be able to work out their differences,” he said.
Former Kansas Democratic Rep. Dan Glickman, co-chairman of a Bipartisan Policy Center project to encourage Congress to work more efficiently, said the scheduling pattern has reduced lawmakers’ focus on legislating. “I am from the old school,” he said. “Washington should be the focus of the job. Instead, there has been a move away from Washington.”
Majority Says Schedule Works Well
Some lawmakers have worked around the schedule. Members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which faces a Nov. 23 deadline to produce at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction, have been meeting regularly despite recesses.
House Republicans say they are comfortable with their schedule, saying it has provided predictability and allowed lawmakers to have a week away from Washington for every two weeks they are in session.
Aides to Majority Leader
“The schedule hasn’t prevented that,” said Laena Fallon, a Cantor spokeswoman.
“The Senate has done very little this year, so why should we be here at the same time?”
Ohio Republican
“We have given members the certainty of time back home for their families and constituents. And we can manage our time in Congress for our committees to have testimony without interruption,” Tiberi said.
Freshman Republican
“There is nothing like standing in front of 20 farmers or 30 businessmen,” he said. “Facebook gives us an ability to push forward. But it’s not the same as talking with small businessmen about their problems.”
New House Calendar Criticized as Stoking Conflict, Reducing Productivity
Cantor plans to release the House’s 2012 schedule this week. It is expected to include some tweaks to coordinate the House’s schedule more closely with the Senate’s. Kinzinger, who serves on Cantor’s scheduling group, said the new plan also will seek to better match the House’s schedule with other Washington-based events, such as the National Prayer Breakfast.