In a sign Republicans are out of touch with regular Americans, Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday bragged that the Senate had “the longest continuous work period in 15 years.”
“We’ve taken more roll-call votes so far this year than at the same point in any year since at least 1989,” Thune added in a speech on the Senate floor, as he tried to build support for Senate Republicans’ actions to strip health care and food aid from the poorest Americans in order to cut taxes for the rich and fund President Donald Trump’s masked deportation force.
How long was this “continuous work period,” you might ask?
The Senate was in session on weekdays from Jan. 3 through March 14, the chamber’s first scheduled weeklong break, according to the Senate’s official calendar. Of course, that time in session includes days off for federal holidays and days where they gaveled out early.
As of Wednesday, the Senate has had 111 days in session since Jan. 3, according to the secretary of the Senate. During that time, they’ve had 11 Fridays where they didn’t meet, in addition to various scheduled breaks.
What’s more, Thune bragging about the number of votes taken is an odd choice. The GOP and its unified control of Washington have so far enacted just 49 pieces of legislation, according to GovTrack, which monitors actions in Congress.
That’s far off track from the 117th Congress, when Democrats had unified control of the nation’s capitol. The Democratic-controlled 117th Congress had 1,234 pieces of legislation enacted over the course of two years. Republicans would have to seriously pick up the pace over the next year and a half to get to that level.
And if Republicans want to talk about quality over quantity, Democrats have them beat there, too.
In the 117th Congress, Democrats passed a sweeping COVID-19 relief bill, which gave Americans stimulus checks. They also expanded subsidies for Americans to obtain health care, passed $1 trillion in infrastructure funding, and allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices to lower prescription costs.
What have Republicans done this Congress?
They passed a budget that will strip away health care and food stamps from millions of Americans. They made it harder for Americans to afford the cost of college, and beefed up Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make Trump’s deportation gestapo the largest police force in the United States. Republicans are also set to let the expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies expire, which will cause millions to become unable to afford their health insurance.
But congrats on working a few full weeks in a row, Republicans. What a sacrifice.