It's time to end lame-duck sessions of Congress

GURPS · Dec 22, 2022

However, the manner in which this omnibus got crafted matters. The spending decisions in this bill were largely made by two senators who won’t be in Congress for the next session: Senate Appropriations chair Pat Leahy and ranking member Richard Shelby, both retiring. A significant amount of support for this bill comes from people who either retired or lost control of the House last month, especially Nancy Pelosi, who will nonetheless now control the outcome for this budget. Voters already issued a demonstration of no-confidence in House Democrat leadership, and yet they’re driving the agenda via the lame-duck session.

What else will the lame-duck Congress do after voters sent a demand for at least some change in direction and accountability for the failures of the 117th Session?

Congress would waive required PAYGO spending cuts.
Congress would waste taxpayer dollars on thousands of earmarks.
Congress would enact other legislation that is not related to appropriations, such as the Secure 2.0 Act.

And finally, Congress will do all of this in a bill that runs well over 4,000 pages, in a timeframe that assures that no member will actually read it. That creates all sorts of room for even more mischief, more malign Easter eggs, more spending and shadow policymaking that won’t see the light of day for taxpayer scrutiny. My favorite, thus far, is the money appropriated to Customs and Border Protection that has language that specifically prohibits CBP from using it to strengthen, um … border security. YMMV, however; maybe you see the chauffeur for the IRS commissioner as more egregious and/or laughable. Take your pick — it’s a target-rich environment.