CQ WEEKLY – VANTAGE POINT
Sept. 8, 2012 – 12:01 p.m.
Leaving Town Early
By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
Two more weeks. That’s the goal for an unusually early getaway from Capitol Hill, as leaders of both parties try to hold together a plan aimed at giving lawmakers extra time back home to campaign.
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They’ll be back in December for a lame-duck session of uncertain consequence and duration, but that’s been the plan all year.
Senate Majority Leader
House Republican leaders have cut a rough deal with key conservatives such as
Sen.
Potential obstacles include attempts by rural lawmakers to attach a short extension of farm programs or a full version of the farm bill, and other extraneous items such as a disaster aid package, to the six-month spending bill.
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Garrison Nelson, a political science professor at the University of Vermont, says the early finish demonstrates the importance both parties put on winning control of the House and Senate. Majority control would give a party extra leverage in post-election negotiations on extending 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and averting automatic spending cuts under the 2011 budget control law.
Traditionally, Nelson says, a minority party has looked for ways to keep the majority party pinned down in Washington, giving challengers more face time with voters and extra headlines in the local press. But, he says, the low public approval ratings for Congress have given both parties reason to wrap up work quickly.
A Gallup Poll in August found that 83 percent of respondents disapproved of the job done by members of Congress. “Both sides realize it might be a good idea to keep a low profile and hope the presidential contest elicits most of the attention,” Nelson says.
Lawmakers in both parties have praised Reid and Speaker
A six-month continuing resolution would take appropriations off the December to-do list. Some rank-and-file members would like to wipe other items off the lame-duck list via extensions to delay the expiring tax cuts or the automatic spending cuts.
Leaving Town Early
Other items that could make their way onto the pre-recess agenda include an extension of the 2008 foreign intelligence surveillance law and a measure granting permanent normal trade status to Russia. But, aides say, leaders of both parties are trying to hold the line and deflect big fiscal proposals that might derail an early recess.
Of course, the rush to adjourn can empower individual members who don't face tough races — including two-thirds of senators, who aren't on the ballot — to insist on action on their pet causes. But setting early deadlines that have wiggle room is a time-honored tradition for leaders.