Jim Geraghty of National Review Online challenges the notion that members of Congress are accomplishing almost nothing this year.
No, Congress hasn’t yet repealed Obamacare, passed sweeping tax reform, or negotiated an infrastructure bill.
But don’t blame the House of Representatives. They passed their version of health-care reform back at the beginning of May. House Speaker Paul Ryan is unveiling a plan for tax reform, and the House has passed a couple of smaller but still significant infrastructure bills.
In fact, the House keeps sending bills over to the Senate, month after month: 250 in all so far this year, according to GovTrack. Quite of few of those bills are minor — land swaps, expansion of historic sites, renaming post offices — but a significant number would count as accomplishments worth boasting about on the campaign trail next year if they were signed into law.
Sources close to Republican House leaders are quick to point out that they don’t want to seem too critical of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They say they understand there’s a different set of challenges on that side of Capitol Hill, with a much smaller GOP margin, the Democrats’ filibuster threats, and the Senate’s own full plate of confirming the president’s cabinet and judicial nominations. But they feel like the House has pulled its weight so far this year. As one source close to Ryan put it, “The House is doing its job and the bills are piling up in the Senate.”
