This Thanksgiving holiday cant come early enough for the current members of Congress -- but not for the reasons you might think. They want us, the American people, to turn our focus to family, friends, faith, and off of them.
The Senate and House have already met for the first leg of their two-legged, lame-duck session and managed to accomplish next to nothing. If they meet during the second leg, starting Nov.29, and do nothing, most Americans will experience a sea change.
Both the House and Senate began the first stage of the lame-duck session this week by electing their leadership for the new 112th Congress. Those leaders will begin their new roles when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 5, 2011. But what will happen to the unfinished business from the traditional second session of the 111th Congress? They still need to determine the fate of the following:
- The Bush tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 (expire Dec. 31).
- The federal unemployment benefits (expire Nov. 30).
- Funding the federal government spending for all agencies and departments (expires Dec. 3).
- Extending many small-business deductions and other tax extenders for businesses (expired Dec. 31, 2009).
- Department of Defense authorization bill.
- Extending the doctor reimbursement fix, which postpones a cut in government reimbursement payments to doctors and hospitals that see Medicare patients (expires Dec. 31).
The Senate was able to confirm the new director of the office of Management and Budget, Jacob Lew, after some debate from Sen. Landrieu (D-La.), who is concerned about offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The senators were also able to advance the food safety bill, S. 510, which is now pending their return from Thanksgiving recess on Monday, Nov. 29. This was done to provide a vehicle for Sen. Coburn (R-Okla.) to offer a full Senate ban on earmarks.
The Senate GOP took a pledge earlier in the week and agreed not to offer earmarks for a two-year period. Sen. Johanns (R-Neb.) also wants to use the bill as a vehicle to repeal the 1099 requirement included in the health-care law. This is the new small-business imperative that requires them to issue a 1099 form involving any business where they spent more than $600 over the past year. The small-business community considers this measure a paperwork burden.
The House attempted to pass a three-month extension of the federal unemployment benefits bill but failed when the House Republicans called for the spending to be offset by savings. The vote was 258 to 154, short of the two-thirds needed for passage.
The good news is that the Senate was able to pass a 30-day extension of the doctor reimbursement fix, which postpones a 23 percent cut in their reimbursement payments when they submit their bills to the federal government. The House is expected to follow suit on Monday, Nov. 29. This extension only punts this issue until the end of December. Isnt this how Congress got into a mess in the first place?
Stay tuned to see if the Pelosi/Reid Congress can put our government back on track after punting all of this responsibility and major legislation to the very last minute.
Elizabeth B. Letchworth is a retired, elected U.S. Senate secretary for the majority and minority. Currently she is a senior legislative adviser for Covington & Burling, LLC and is the founder of www.gradegov.com.
