Look closely. That may be your congressman in the scuba mask.
I’m going on vacation soon. 5 nights in Grand Cayman.
After 2 feet of snow in the last week and temps hovering around 4 degrees, I need it.
Scheduling
My wife and I are retired, so scheduling is easier now. When we were both working, this could be a challenge. I remember at one point having to defer a trip to Cambodia because a big project was starting and I needed to be at work. Sadly, the reschedule never happened…
But, work can be like that. We need the salary and our jobs can be demanding.
What??
I was completely stunned to find out that the US House of Representatives is on vacation this week.
I get it. It’s winter, they haven’t had a break since Christmas, and they’ve been so productive. They deserve some time off.
But who does the vacation schedule?
US Government funding is set to run out on January 31st. We all know this. We just lived through the longest Government shut down in history. We kicked the can down the road again and instead of coming up with a sustainable budget, we set ourselves up to re-live the drama again on Jan 31.
Wrap Up
That’s it. That’s the story.
The House slapped together a spending package and left town.
Now that some are actually reading the hastily thrown together bills, there are concerns. The biggest point of contention is the funding for DHS, given all the excitement recently around ICE. But that’s been around for a while???
It sounds like it is possible that the Senate could approve all but the DHS bill, but that leaves FEMA unfunded during what’s been a crazy winter. Trade-offs.
But if that doesn’t fly, we’ll need to have the senate draft updates and then send it to the house for review, refinement and approval when they return (well-rested) from this month’s break.
So my point is, we elect these folks to represent us. Many of us have deferred personal commitments for our work, and many of us have far less impactful roles (than running the Government of the US).
Who the hell is making the schedule?