Congress Is Back – And ‘Busy’ Ahead of Midterms

In 1948, President Harry Truman dubbed the eightieth Congress the “do-nothing Congress” regardless of it passing a whopping 906 payments. It additionally created the DOD, CIA, and Air Pressure, established the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, the Taft-Hartley Act, and joined the United Nations. If solely he may have seen the 119th! In 2025, the primary 12 months of the present session, lawmakers achieved little or no by comparability – and with the longest partial authorities shutdown in US historical past and the whole failure to move the SAVE America Act, the primary half of 2026 did not appear to be faring significantly better.

However then they took somewhat break after lastly ending the record-shattering shutdown, and after they returned, they have been able to roll. From bipartisan consideration to sexual misconduct and the hypocrisy of senators accumulating paychecks throughout a shutdown to a ban on former lawmakers changing into lobbyists, the 119th Congress got here again from a two-week recess with a vengeance. However is that this newfound fervor for getting issues performed real, or are the profession politicians simply on the lookout for soundbites as November’s midterm elections loom?

A Do-Nothing Congress Does It All

Earlier than addressing what the 119th Congress did this week, let’s take a look at one thing it didn’t do. Lawmakers within the Home held a vote over a movement to pressure President Donald Trump to finish his operations within the Center East, however they didn’t move it – although not for lack of attempting. Democrats pressured a vote on a warfare powers decision on Thursday, Might 14, which failed in a 212-212 tie, with one Democrat becoming a member of the GOP in opposition and two weak Republicans siding with the remainder of the left-wing legislators for it.

This represents maybe the largest partisan victory for Republicans since returning to work – however it was removed from the one factor the elected elites achieved. On Wednesday, a discharge petition to bolster Ukraine in its warfare towards Russia bought its 218th signature, representing a majority within the Home and teeing up a vote on the matter. The GOP at massive opposed it, however two Republicans and an unbiased who as soon as was a Republican joined all of the Democrats to pressure consideration of the invoice, handing the Democrats a hefty partisan win of their very own this week.

In a extra unified entrance, nevertheless, Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) introduced a bipartisan effort to fight sexual misconduct within the legislature Wednesday. Led by the chairs of the Republican and Democratic ladies’s caucuses – Florida Republican Kat Cammack and New Mexico Democrat Teresa Leger Fernández – the partnership ostensibly will “establish reforms and options to make Congress a safter work atmosphere for ladies and all survivors,” based on a joint assertion by the 2 celebration leaders.

“No girl – no matter celebration, title, or place – ought to ever really feel unsafe in her office. Interval,” Cammack mentioned in a press release of her personal.

The Tremendous-Charged Senate

Democrats tried to stymie the president’s Iran agenda within the Senate, as properly. On Wednesday, the GOP majority shot it down 50-49, although, but once more, three Republicans joined all however one Democrat in supporting the warfare powers decision.

And similar to within the Home, essentially the most sensational information is available in bipartisan kind. A unanimous Senate handed a decision on Wednesday to “droop” pay for senators throughout any future authorities shutdown. The one upper-chamber lawmaker to not vote for the measure was Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska – and his workplace introduced that he did help the decision; he simply couldn’t make the vote in particular person due to a scheduling battle.

Additionally this week, Sen. Rick Scott, a conservative Republican from Florida, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive Democrat from Massachusetts, teamed as much as introduce a invoice to stop former lawmakers from changing into lobbyists. One more common speaking level on each side, this invoice would ban each senators and Home members from being registered lobbyists or being paid to attempt to affect lawmakers and workers on behalf of corporations or teams, a standard loophole permitting them to foyer unofficially with out registering.

Is It Actual – Or Simply Political Theater?

In the event you’re considering that looks like an terrible lot of enthusiasm for change after a year-and-a-half of subsequent to nothing, you aren’t mistaken. Actually, the highest touch upon The Hill’s protection of the anti-lobbying ban could properly sum it up: “One other invoice that has no likelihood, however we see quite a lot of them earlier than midterms.” Does this invoice really stand an opportunity of passing each chambers and changing into legislation? Maybe – however even when it does, that doesn’t change the suspicious timing. Pay-to-play schemes and former legislators leveraging their affect for the very best bidder are nothing new within the Swamp – so why now? Each Warren and Scott are freshly re-elected and don’t should face voters themselves till 2030, however the clarion name to scrub up politics as normal all the time performs properly to each events’ bases.

As properly, the Senate’s unanimous decision to “droop” fee throughout shutdowns isn’t all it’s cracked as much as be. On its face, such information sounds noble. However there’s an issue: The US Structure establishes congressional pay, and truly eradicating it will subsequently require a constitutional modification. A full studying of the decision, nevertheless, reveals the workaround:

“Throughout any interval by which a Authorities shutdown is in impact, the Secretary of the Senate shall disburse and maintain any funds in any other case required to be made with respect to such interval for the compensation of every Senator.

“The Secretary of the Senate shall launch to every Senator any funds held underneath paragraph (1) with respect to a Authorities shutdown as quickly as practicable after the date on which the Authorities shutdown ends.”

So in less complicated phrases, senators will nonetheless receives a commission – they only received’t get the checks till after the shutdown is over. In line with a March report from SpotlightPA, relating to the latest monetary disclosures, at the least 73 of the 100 senators are millionaires. Provided that, going with out one or two paychecks of $14,500 or extra monthly, solely to gather them suddenly shortly after, in all probability isn’t throwing many, if any, into dire monetary straits.

So is it attainable that 100 senators immediately agreed to face unified with the unpaid federal staff within the subsequent shutdown, or that each side of the aisle actually wish to restrict their very own choices as soon as they’re out of Congress? Positive. Simply as a bipartisan Home coalition may really root out all of the abusers haunting the halls of energy. However such sensational, made-for-media moments definitely don’t damage with regards to public opinion in an election 12 months, both.