Ukraine is pulling troops out of the eastern city of Avdiivka. Russian President Vladimir Putin is emboldened enough to murder opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Senate has acted, sending a bipartisan aid bill to the House with over 70 votes.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s response is to leave town.
The House recessed for President’s Day weekend Thursday, leaving for two weeks as Ukraine tries desperately to repel Russian invaders.
Johnson failed to identify how he would get help to Ukraine as he promised, and the House has similarly made no progress in passing appropriations bills needed to keep the government running. It has made more progress than the Senate, completing 7 of 12 compared to just one managed by the Senate, but managing just over half of what is needed is hardly commendable. Congress was first forced to pass an emergency continuing resolution in November and then another on Jan. 18. The new funding deadline on March 1.
Originally, the House planned to recess through March 5. So, at least it has sensibly cut its break by five days so it can fund the government. But it has left itself just one day to get it done, meaning another continuing resolution is pretty much guaranteed.
A congressional recess is not precisely a “vacation” because members work in their districts, but the most pressing work at present is in Washington. Ukraine needs aid fast. The federal government needs funding. Congress can complete these tasks only on Capitol Hill.
Not all of the government will run out of spending authority on March 1, as the House adopted a staggered approach, so only the Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs agencies will run dry by March 1. But the deadline for the rest of the federal government, including the Department of Defense, is only a week later on March 8.
Considering the slow pace of congressional progress, it is unlikely a deal covering those agencies will get done. This is all the more reason for Johnson to get a two-week head start and cancel the President’s Day recess.
He should start by bringing the Ukraine foreign aid bill to the floor for debate and amendment. That should give the Appropriation Committee time needed to get the remaining spending bills ready for floor action.
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Conservatives will not get everything they want in the appropriations process. If they try to force big policy changes on President Joe Biden, they will fail. Instead, they should pick their battles and make sure Biden and the Democrats don’t make things worse. That would mean no taxpayer funding for abortion and no bailouts for sanctuary cities.
Republicans can, we hope, increase their numbers in this year’s election, but for now, they have a razor-thin majority of only one chamber of Congress, and they need to set their goals accordingly.