Macabre Christmas: Congress running out of time

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You probably never would have known Congress was on the edge last week.

If you watched the day-to-day-machinations on Capitol Hill, it was hard to discern the brinksmanship unfolding behind the scenes.

It’s usually a macabre Christmas in Congress. It is every December. This year’s flavors include a rush to fund the government and avert a weekend shutdown. A fight over coronavirus aid as talks devolved. And, a big legislative lift on the final version of a defense bill – and a likely veto override effort.

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Yet Congress couldn’t wrap all of that up in just a few days and skate home for the holidays. That was the plan a few weeks ago. But there is one maxim on Capitol Hill: if there’s a way to make things difficult, Congress will undoubtedly find a way to do so.

This year is no exception.

The 2020 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree is lit after a ceremony on the West Front of Capitol Hill in Washington, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Lawmakers have now burned two weeks in Washington since Thanksgiving, and, besides taking the first steps to settle the defense bill, never came close to finishing the other major issues staring everyone in the face.

This is an annual ritual that seizes Congress every December.

And while the sides see if they can reach an agreement on government funding or COVID-19 relief, lawmakers, aides, lobbyists and journalists wait.

You’d have to look closely to see the problems lurking around the corners in the shadows.

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At any one time over the past few days, one could watch farewell addresses from vanquished or retiring lawmakers. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., defeated by Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville, giving his valedictory address from the floor. A tribute to retiring Sens. Mike Enzi, R-Wy., Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Tom Udall, D-N.M.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, emerges from a meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The top Republican on the House Small Business Committee, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, took to the floor to salute Kevin Fitzpatrick – his longtime aide and retiring committee staff director for the minority. Fitzpatrick has worked almost exclusively on Capitol Hill in some capacity since the late 1970s.

Fitzpatrick whispered to Chabot as they walked off the floor that the Congressman’s tribute would likely “lead the evening news.”

But Fitzpatrick’s departure had stiff competition. There was no agreement on government spending or COVID assistance. But last Wednesday, the House devoted its time to legislation establishing energy efficiency standards of ceiling fans.

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Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., crafted the “Ceiling Fan Improvement Act of 2020.” The bill exempts “large-diameter ceiling fans manufactured on or after January 21, 2020. Language in the bill established parameters for exemptions of large fans based on “Using an Airflow Constant of 26,500 cubic feet per minute” and “Using a Fan Efficiency Constant of 42 percent.”

For the record, the House approved the ceiling fan measure. But not before bringing all members into the chamber in waves to cast a roll call vote on the issue. The vote was 396-2.

Where was Bob Vila on all of this?

Welcome to Congress in December. Here’s a tawdry list of the ghosts of Christmas past on Capitol Hill.

Last December, it was impeachment hearings, votes on articles of impeachment on the floor and approval of the USMCA trade pact.

In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo sunlight shines on the U.S. Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

In December 2005, lawmakers locked in an epic struggle over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

In December 2012 – bleeding into January 2013 – it was the fiscal cliff. The Senate began votes around 2 in the morning New Year’s Day.

It used to be one thing to ring in the new year with the likes of Guy Lombardo and Dick Clark. Try doing it with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Even President-elect Biden, then President Obama’s vice president, roared up to the Capitol around 8:30 pm on New Year’s Eve, for negotiations.

It’s unclear if the president-elect brought with him new year’s hats and noisemakers.

But this year on Capitol Hill, it was easy to miss the signs of crisis.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of Calif., speaks during her weekly briefing, Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., conducted a “virtual” Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honoring Chinese American Veterans from World War II. Pre-pandemic, Pelosi likely would have conducted such a commemoration in the Capitol Rotunda. But in the age of COVID-19, the Speaker’s office distributed footage of the event to the press via YouTube.

There were questions about Congressional security. Word came that alleged Chinese spy Christine Fang may have targeted Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Members and aides alike have worried about foreign agents operating in the halls of Congress for years. Some posing as lobbyists. Or, shoehorning their way into an office to work as an aide or intern.

Fox requested an interview with Swalwell. But Swalwell did do a sit-down interview with CNN.

“In our Congressional offices, we don’t have the technical capabilities to run background checks on people who are around us,” said Swalwell, a member of the Intelligence Committee. “We need to invest more on intelligence services.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, listens during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., June 24, 2020. Photographer: Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images

But that’s not entirely true. Hundreds of aides who handle defense, intelligence or trade issues are subject to background checks. Certain clearances are mandatory. Fox is told some congressional security officials would like to subject everyone who works on Capitol Hill to a background check. Some congressional offices do require background checks. But most don’t. Each of the 535 congressional offices operates like its own corporation. It does what it likes.

“I don't know that it means that we have to have background checks for every intern that comes into the Capitol,” said the Speaker.

“We don't need Chinese nationals interning in congressional offices where you have access to sensitive material,” said Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas.

So, that may be a fight for another day.

Congress actually flirted with a potential government shutdown on Friday. Government funding was set to expire at 11:59:59 pm et Friday. The House approved a Band-Aid spending plan earlier in the week. But the Senate had not. The Senate was stuck on the annual defense bill, trapped in a parliamentary cul-de-sac.

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., required the Senate burn clock for most of Thursday and into Friday morning over a provision he opposed in the defense bill. Paul said the defense measure hamstrings the President from withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But after blocking the Senate from finishing the defense bill and starting work on the spending plan, Paul finally relented.

The Senate approved the defense bill 84-13 and avoided a government shutdown on Friday.

But that spending bill is only good for another week. And coronavirus talks are in shambles.

So, the coming week could be as troublesome as the previous week.

Another macabre Christmas at the Capitol.