Suddenly, Congress is actually working. Why?
No one could have seen this one coming.
Suddenly, Congress is actually doing things. Making compromises. Passing legislation. Confirming people.
The relevant question to ask here is: Why? After all, the past two Congresses were renowned largely for their historic lack of productivity.
With Republicans reclaiming the Senate majority and widening their majority in the House in the 2014 election, there seemed little likelihood that the period between January 2014 and November 2016 would be markedly different from the four years that had preceded it.
And yet, here we are.
Billy Moore, a longtime Democratic congressional staffer and now a lobbyist, sought to explain the detente in a weekly newsletter he sends to Washington types. He wrote:
Congress continued to build bipartisan momentum in the first week of the April session, clearing the permanent Medicare physician pay reform measure for President Barack Obama's signature, confirming a federal judge and beginning a budget resolution conference that could continue the momentum into the summer. . . . The most important factors these initiatives have in common is a consensus on the role of government and committee leadership that want to work together to get things done. Where an issue lacks consensus on government's role, such as immigration, health care or environmental protection, Washington still appears stymied.
...
For the record, not all Democrats -- or even most -- blame Reid. Democrats generally insist that the reason things have begun to work better is because their side isn't willing to block legislation the same way Republicans did when they served in the Senate minority.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/04/21/suddenly-congress-is-actually-working-why/?tid=pm_politics_pop_b
= new reply since forum marked as read
