The Recess Veto

Harry Truman won the White House by running against a Congress that outworked this one.

In 1948, he barnstormed the country, blasting the “Do-Nothing” 80th Congress. That Congress passed the Marshall Plan, created the Department of Defense and the CIA, and put over 900 laws on the books. Ok, no institution is perfect, but that’s not the point here.

Still, it got branded lazy, and the voters threw the majority out.

On Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson canceled Thursday’s votes, sent the House home a day early, and started a recess of nearly seven weeks. Members won’t return until after the November elections, many of whom will now surely lose their jobs come January. This recess came after the chamber had already trimmed two weeks from its September schedule.

Johnson’s verdict on the year? The House has… my God… “done its work.” He’s called this the most productive Congress in decades, and the top 5 of all time.

Really.

“And Call Off Christmas!”

On Tuesday, soon-to-be former Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie walked onto the House floor and filed, count ‘em, 8 articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The charges center on the war in Iran. Massie says Hegseth launched and continued hostilities without a declaration of war or any authorization from Congress, and ordered strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean without oversight.

But Massie filed it as a privileged resolution. That kind of resolution obligates House leadership to bring it to the floor within 2 legislative days. Massie timed it so the vote would take place on Thursday, before the planned recess.

So on Wednesday, Johnson canceled Thursday.

Of course, Johnson insisted the 2 events are unrelated, with a straight face. He called Massie’s resolution a publicity stunt and said the House would table it immediately upon return.

Fine. Let’s take him at his word for a moment. If the resolution was a stunt that would be tabled in 15 minutes, why not table it? The majority has the votes. Gavel in, motion to table, gavel out, leave Thursday as scheduled.

But a motion to table is still a vote, and a vote is a record.

No Republican in a swing district wants his name on any roll call that contains the words “Iran,” “war powers,” or “impeachment” less than two months before midterms. If they vote to table, their opponent’s ad writes itself. If they vote against tabling, then they’ve crossed the White House (and AIPAC’s money machine).

So leadership looked behind Door #3 and found that if there’s no one in the chamber, there’s no clock, no vote, and no record.

They killed the problem by making everyone in the room disappear.

Understanding Johnson

Johnson’s speakership rests on a majority of a handful of seats. Every member of that majority answers to a district, and the most endangered members answer to the most divided districts. His job is to shield them from votes that could end their careers, while keeping the President happy.

Given those incentives, the Recess Veto is the rational play. It protects the members, pleases the White House, and costs Johnson nothing beyond his already useless reputation.

And that’s the problem. The people who run the institution get rewarded for not using it.

The last act before the Congress Creatures went home was yet another Russia sanctions bill the Senate had passed 86 to 11… that will do absolutely nothing to alter the state of the war.

This Isn’t About Hegseth

You may think Hegseth is doing a fine job. You may think Massie grandstands. Or you may think he’s the only man in DC who actually read the document he swore to defend. None of that is the point.

Article I, Section 8 gives Congress, and only Congress, the power to declare war. The Founders put the war power in the branch closest to the people, because wars get paid for with the people’s blood and the people’s money.

So whether Massie’s articles deserve 430 no votes or 218 yes votes, they deserve votes. A House that leaves town rather than say yes or no has neither defended Hegseth nor rebuked Massie.

Massie put it plainest from the floor: “We’re calling off Congress? And we’re in the majority?”

No Clock to Punch

Try Johnson’s line at your own job. Walk into your boss’ office in mid-September, announce that your work for the year is done, and say you’ll see everyone after Thanksgiving.

You’d be cleaning out your desk by lunch.

But when there’s no skin in the game, there’s no correction. Markets punish error every trading day. Politics punishes it every other November, if at all. Congress just scheduled itself out of its own feedback loop for 7 weeks.

Meanwhile, the machine runs on autopilot. The deficit doesn’t get cut. Interest on the exorbitant national debt keeps growing. The unexamined war powers, the continuing resolutions, the spending nobody votes on compound while the chamber lights are off.

Wrap Up

The Swamp festers in futility.

The present fiscal path remains in dire straits while Congress fiddles. The deficits run, the Treasury issues, and yields continue their relentless rise.

That’s why we keep pounding the table on hard assets.

One last thing: Congress Creatures are headed home to ask for your vote. When one shows up at your door, ask him how he finished a year’s worth of work in September.

Have a great day.