Congress is missing.
With every level of government consumed by the coronavirus pandemic, the 535 members of the House and Senate have been relegated to the sidelines, scrounging for relevance while the fights of consequence unfold without them. Even as they’ve busied themselves back home, lawmakers are desperate for a way to cast votes or hold hearings from afar.
In their absence from Washington, lawmakers worry they’ve ceded the spotlight to President Donald Trump, who has eagerly overwhelmed the national bandwidth with factually-challenged press conferences, executive orders and feuds with governors, who have also taken starring roles in the nation’s coronavirus response.
The frustrations are most acute among the Democrats’ endangered members, particularly, freshmen, who worry the American public can’t see their members actually fulfilling their duties in Congress — a perception of idleness that could put their re-elections on the line.
Congressional leaders are now trying to cobble unanimous support for massive economic rescue legislation that can pass while lawmakers remain isolated in their homes. That means enormous government decisions — like when to reopen the country — as made with the House and Senate having virtually no say in the matter, fueling claims of a “do nothing” Congress even as members say they're busier than ever handling the crisis from home.
Meanwhile, rank-and-file members are stuck waiting on the legislative front, drafting letters to the White House and adding to their lengthening to-do lists when, eventually, they return to Washington. Lawmakers say it's even tougher to stomach as congressional leaders struggle to agree on a way to shore up a key small business relief fund that went dry this week.
“I am a frustrated member of Congress who’s joined by many similarly frustrated members of Congress,” said freshman Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), a vocal proponent of allowing Congress to hold remote hearings and debate.
“We are operating still as a 19th century institution in a 21st century unprecedented crisis,” Phillips said. “We cannot leave it just to the administration to have the megaphone.”
But so far, that’s exactly what has happened. Lawmakers have been limited to issuing strongly worded statements as Trump has sought to reshape a narrative about his administration’s early reluctance to take aggressive steps to tackle the coronavirus, which contributed to the massive outbreak the nation is now suffering. He’s used his bully pulpit to assert the “total” authority to override states’ public health decisions and reopen the economy as soon as May 1 against the advice of infectious disease experts.
The frustration isn't limited to the majority: A group of about two-dozen Republicans is increasingly restive and threatening to return to Washington ahead of the House's return date to try and jump start action.
Congress did, of course, already pass roughly $2.5 trillion to jumpstart the federal government’s response to the dual economic and public health crises. And individual members have become crucial, influential advocates for their constituents as they deal with local challenges, such as medical equipment shortages in health care facilities and businesses on the brink of closure.
But as the crisis kept lawmakers homebound for all of April, leaders in both parties have remained resistant to allowing other business outside of the Capitol — like electronic voting or hearings — to go on, raising concerns of security and institutional precedent.
The House and Senate are both slated to hold sessions on May 4, a delayed return that could slip further as the threat of contracting and spreading coronavirus remains high. House committees have issued demands for documents and testimony to aid their probes of the administration’s coronavirus response and to identify holes in the nation’s rescue effort. But public hearings have been on pause for weeks, and there’s little that House committee leaders can do if the White House resists its efforts
What’s emerged in the absence of policymaking is a boisterous inside-baseball debate over House procedures: namely, whether lawmakers are even constitutionally permitted to cast votes remotely. House Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern (D-Mass.) recommended Thursday that the House adopt a “low-tech” remote voting procedure to allow those in the Capitol to cast votes at the direction of their far-flung colleagues.
Such a process may draw challenges and would require the full House to convene in order to approve such a rule change. And some members said it didn’t resolve problems like House committees being unable to meet and debate legislation remotely. One lawmaker called the idea “bullshit.”
McGovern’s push followed steadily rising complaints from lawmakers eager to take actions of consequence while their constituents are struggling. Earlier in the week, roughly 20 members, led by the House’s most vulnerable moderate members, proposed a resolution directing House leaders to come up with a plan — any plan — to allow for remote congressional activity.
Rank-and-file lawmakers are also clamoring for a way to conduct congressional hearings from afar, a platform that would at least allow members of the public to see their lawmakers at work, pressing for answers amid the pandemic. But there’s been no agreed-upon system for such hearings, which would also likely require a rules change. And some video platforms have been flagged as potential security risks, leaving some lawmakers skittish about holding online hearings.
“People think we can do Congress by Zoom. Zoom is a Chinese entity that we’ve been told not to even trust the security of. So there are challenges, it’s not as easy as you would think,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this week on MSNBC, referring to the online video conference platform.
Some lawmakers have made plans to hold remote events anyways: Starting next week, the Congressional Progressive Caucus will livestream a series of unofficial hearings on Facebook, featuring public testimony on issues like their national paycheck guarantee plan.
But vulnerable Democratic incumbents are especially worried that the public will view them as shirking their responsibilities, even as they spend full days working the phones to help hospitals, business and other local leaders.
“I do worry about the optics,” said Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.), a freshman Democrat running for reelection in a Trump district. “People expect Congress to be working, and we absolutely are right now, but we also have to be voting and conducting hearings and oversight.”
Voting by proxy would be a “good first step,” Brindisi said, though he stressed that more needed to be done. “We need to adapt and conduct business like the rest of the world is right now.”
Some lawmakers, particularly institutional veterans, have argued that Congress is simply limited in what it can do under the extreme circumstances, acknowledging that the two bodies must return to their chambers to conduct business.
“I think the constitution clearly anticipates that members would be present,” Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters in a deserted Capitol this week.
Blunt said the Senate is looking at ways to hold remote hearings, but said Congress had already dismissed the idea of voting away from Washington in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks: "We've dealt with these issues and even more difficult scenarios than whether you should get on an airplane or not because you might catch a virus.”
“We’re working in a challenging environment,” added Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “It’d be preferable if we were not in this situation. Given the circumstances, we’re adapting as best we can.”
Some Democrats also worry they’ve been sidelined for one of the most consequential decisions of all — how and when to reopen the economy, a move that could rescue millions of constituents who are facing unemployment but also risk a resurgence of coronavirus infections if handled incorrectly.
“The president skipped over Congress’s role when he basically said, ‘I will compel states to reopen when I want them to,’” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is leading a push among Democrats to reassert congressional authority over the critical decision. “To the extent there’s a federal role in reopening America, that role is to be defined by Congress.”
Not all lawmakers agree that it is Congress’s role, saying the legislative branch can do little more than exert pressure on the administration from the sidelines of its battle with state executives and public health experts.
“Ultimately there are things the president can do that we cannot control,” House Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said. “But what we can control is our response, continuing to put American families first, continuing to stand with our governors.”
But Raskin — along with Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) — have drafted a bill to issue a direct challenge to Trump's powers oversee a state-by-state process of allowing millions of people to slowly retreat from their homes and back into shops, schools and public transit, by instead putting it in the hands of Congress.
Raskin acknowledged, though, that neither the House nor Senate can take up that bill for a vote or even a debate until lawmakers are able to safely return to Washington.
“That is the challenge of the next few weeks,” Raskin said. “We’re not here. It is a real problem.”
Melanie Zanona contributed.
On Thursday, conservative talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh warned his listeners that the country is headed for another Great Depression if the economy contracts any more due to the COVID-19 crisis shutdowns.
“All we need is a 30 to 40% contraction in this economy,” Limbaugh said. “We’ll hit Great Recession territory first and then depression, if this doesn’t stop… and the idea that there are people advocating for this!”
Rush: "The Drive-By Media, the media, and the Democrats are fully on board with the Democrat agenda here … They are hoping that coronavirus accomplishes what Robert Mueller and impeachment, Adam Schiff failed to do."https://t.co/kdEnjlH4Jl #TurntheHouseRED
— actlightning (@actlightning) April 17, 2020
RELATED: Chris Cuomo Curses At Trump Because The President Wants To Give People Hope During Pandemic
Rush said this trend toward depression could be reversed, but that “there are forces arrayed against doing that.”
“We know who they are,” Limbaugh said. “We know exactly. We know they’re all Democrats. We know they are some in the health and medical community. The Drive-By Media, the media, and the Democrats are fully on board with the Democrat agenda here … They are hoping that coronavirus accomplishes what Robert Mueller and impeachment, Adam Schiff failed to do.”
Rush said Americans are “doing this to ourselves – and it’s amazing how quickly!”
“Three years to revive an economy, create roaring circumstances,” Limbaugh continued. “It took less than two months to wipe it all out. Twenty-two million people filing for unemployment compensation — 22 million — and the idea that there is not an angry outcry from all over the world that this must stop?
That outcry had better happen, because this…”
"How in the world can anybody sane want to keep this economy shut down?" ~ Rush
The answer's in the question. Many leftists are not sane.
…Rush Limbaugh: We’re Heading for a Self-Inflicted Great Depression https://t.co/FYlGGHLUEo
— Junkyard Dogs (@baileyjer) April 17, 2020
“We’re beyond now saying this is unsustainable,” Rush warned. “This is untenable! This is cataclysmic! We’re in the midst of a self-created disaster that we could fix (snap, snap, snap) at the snap of our fingers.”
“How in the world can anybody sane want to keep this economy shut down?” Limbaugh asked. “How can anybody sane be anything less than scared and outraged and mortified that 22 million people have been thrown out of work over something that may end up killing fewer than 50,000 people? It is unprecedented! And yet there are people who want to maintain the circumstances we are in. And it boggles the mind.”
We need somebody to tell us in one week how this is all gonna start revving up again. We can't wait until June. We can't wait 'til July. We're talking Great Depression time if we do that. – @rushlimbaugh pic.twitter.com/ch3arA5kGj
— Rush Limbaugh Quotes (@DailyLimbaugh) April 9, 2020
RELATED: Rush Limbaugh: ‘Pelosi Invokes Her Catholicism on Everything but Abortion’
“It is so counterintuitive to Americanism,” Limbaugh insisted. “We cannot go on!… I can’t believe it has gone on this long! I can’t believe… In one way, I can’t believe the American people haven’t arisen in outrage over this yet.”
In February, Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump.
The post Rush Limbaugh Warns America ‘Headed To Great Depression’ With ‘Democrats Fully On Board’ appeared first on The Political Insider.
Mitt Romney is the only Republican senator excluded from a congressional task force created by the White House to formulate a plan to reopen the country.
The administration released a list of members in Congress who took part in a phone call with the President discussing supply chains, the Paycheck Protection Program and “ways to energize the economy.”
The Hill reports that the list “included nearly 70 senators, including all 52 of Romney’s GOP colleagues in the chamber.”
Romney, however, is on the outside looking in.
This would be more noteworthy if anyone was under the impression Romney still identifies as an actual member of the GOP.
In reality, he sits on the sidelines with his Democrat colleagues whose work in trying to dismantle the Trump presidency runs more in line with his own political motivations.
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sander (Communist-VT), along with red-state Democrats Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Doug Jones (D-AL) were all left off the task force.
52 Senate Republicans have been asked by President Trump to serve on the Opening Up America Again Congressional Group. The lone GOP Senator NOT invited… @MittRomney
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) April 16, 2020
RELATED: Trump Calls Out Pelosi For Deleting Video In Which She Says Coronavirus Fears ‘Unwarranted’
Had Romney been included on the task force, there’d be little surprise due to his successful business background. His acumen in creating jobs and improving business economic conditions can not be disputed.
His judgment, on the other hand, has been very clouded over the last few years. Why would the President want someone on a task force to jump-start the economy when:
It seems like a solid choice NOT to pick Romney.
Mitt Romney, who voted to convict Trump in impeachment trial, is the only Republican senator not invited on phone call https://t.co/F4tO16KF04
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 16, 2020
RELATED: President Trump Taunts Romney Over Coronavirus Test Results
Worth noting that many actual Republicans in Congress have admitted that the impeachment charade was a key factor in their inability to help the President take action on the coronavirus.
You know, the impeachment that Romney joined in on in voting to convict the President?
“It came up while we were tied down in the impeachment trial,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “And I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was all about impeachment.”
While Democrats were entirely focused on impeachment, President Trump would issue travel restrictions with China, establish a Coronavirus Task Force, and declare coronavirus a public health emergency, among many other actions.
Trump is still on track to be acquitted, but not with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney’s vote. Romney votes to impeach, calling Trump’s actions “a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security interests, and our fundamental values”
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) February 5, 2020
President Trump repeatedly mocked Romney last month when it became evident that he would have to self-quarantine during the coronavirus crisis due to possible exposure through Senator Rand Paul.
“Romney is in isolation?” Trump asked a reporter. “Gee, that’s too bad.”
Now he’s being isolated from the task force to open the American economy back up again. Romney’s actions are now limiting his ability to serve his constituents and make America great again.
The post Romney Is The Only Republican Senator Excluded From New White House Coronavirus Task Force appeared first on The Political Insider.
House Democrats are using language which compares impeachment to President Trump’s order to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The President announced earlier this week that his administration would stop funding until a review could be conducted into whether the WHO was responsible for “severely mismanaging and covering up” spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
“So much death has been caused by their mistakes,” he said at a press briefing.
To nobody’s surprise, Democrats have all lined up in unison behind the WHO and against America. They have suggested President Trump lacks the authority to cut funding already approved by Congress.
The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday tweeted that Trump’s actions were “illegal.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also claimed Trump’s move to defund the group was “dangerous,” “illegal,” and will be “swiftly challenged.”
We’re starting to get an idea of what she meant.
Need more proof that President Trump’s illegal withholding of World Health Organization funding puts Americans at risk?
His own State Department says funding the WHO helps “fight disease and ultimately, protect Americans.” https://t.co/7mWkWoe4wa
— House Appropriations (@AppropsDems) April 15, 2020
RELATED: Pelosi Sides With WHO Over America: Claims Trump’s Move to Halt Funding Is ‘Illegal’
The WHO is an organization that helped spread Chinese disinformation on the coronavirus and urged nations to keep their borders open during the pandemic.
Countless lives were lost either to their corruption or coordination with the Chinese Communist Party.
That said, Pelosi’s threat to ‘swiftly challenge’ Trump’s move to halt funding to such a group apparently equates to yet another push for impeachment.
“In a desperate attempt to deflect blame, President Trump is violating the same spending laws that brought about his impeachment,” said Evan Hollander, House Appropriations Committee spokesman.
“The President does not have the unilateral authority to withhold the United States’ assessed contribution to the World Health Organization.”
Nancy Pelosi just said President Trump’s decision to halt funding for the WHO is “illegal” and will be “swiftly challenged”
If she wants to impeach Trump for withholding funding to WHO—she should be expelled for withholding funding to American small businesses
RT if you agree!
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 15, 2020
RELATED: Trump Calls Out Pelosi For Deleting Video In Which She Says Coronavirus Fears ‘Unwarranted’
Congressional Democrats never opposed Barack Obama on the numerous occasions that he put conditions on aid to other nations or organizations when they weren’t serving the best interests of the United States.
The most famous of which, naturally, was when the Obama administration, according to former Vice President Joe Biden’s own words, threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine until they fired a prosecutor investigating a company involved with his son, Hunter.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said that Democrats seem to care more about protecting China and the World Health Organization than they do about the well-being of our own country.
Roy suggested America should “encourage the WHO to step up and get it right,” as opposed to siding with “the communists in China” and “against the interests of the United States.”
But then, they wouldn’t be modern-day Democrats if they sided with America.
The post Here We Go: Democrats Equate Halting WHO Funding To ‘Impeachable’ Offenses appeared first on The Political Insider.
