WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Whither the U.S. House?
As the nation celebrates its this weekend, the legislative branch has momentarily called it quits.
The House leadership on Tuesday and sent lawmakers home early for the holiday recess, Speaker 鈥檚 majority once again ground to a standstill by a Republican revolt over their own party鈥檚 agenda.
In this case, it’s a standoff blocking the annual defense bill 鈥� with pay raises for the troops and other matters at 鈥� as the renegade Republicans push to include own priority, the , a strict voter ID bill. Last week, the Senate similarly shuttered .
The emptying Capitol provides another snapshot of the in Washington as a headstrong executive confronts a .
For the second time in as many weeks, the House has simply given up.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a relatively bad time in Congress,鈥� Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said recently. 鈥淎 lot of my colleagues have forgotten how to govern.鈥�
The scene is far different than last year’s Fourth of July
A year ago this weekend brought a wholly different scene in Washington, as Trump gathered Republican lawmakers outside the White House for an ebullient to sign what they called the 鈥淥ne, Big, Beautiful Bill鈥� of .
It was a celebratory moment for Trump and the slim Republican majority 鈥� and for Johnson, who many doubted could pass the bill over the objections of Democrats who viewed it as tax giveaway at the expense of billions of dollars in cuts to for Americans in need.
Johnson was so reliant on Trump’s power to help push the bill to approval that he gifted the president a speaker’s gavel, which Democrats and others saw as a worrisome symbol of the transference of power from one branch of government to the other.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not dealing with Speaker Mike Johnson,鈥� Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the caucus chairman, said in a recent interview. 鈥淯nfortunately, Speaker Donald Trump does not want us in this week.鈥�
Trump makes conflicting demands on his party in Congress
As Johnson works to keep Trump close, the president’s demands seem to grow in ways the Republican speaker can’t always deliver.
The president鈥檚 insistence on the SAVE America Act, which doesn’t have enough support in the Senate to pass, has interrupted almost all other business in Congress. Trump has refused to sign a popular that cleared both chambers until the voting bill is also approved. He calls the housing bill a
Johnson spent four hours last week at the White House and said he spent another two hours with the president this week on a path forward.
鈥淚 told him, 鈥楳r. President, I don鈥檛 have any tattoos, but if I did, it鈥檇 say SAVE America on my shoulder,鈥� OK?鈥� Johnson said over the weekend on Fox News.
鈥淲e passed it three times in the House already. We鈥檙e going to pass it again.鈥�
But by Tuesday, a House vote to advance the legislation collapsed. Republicans led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida argued that Johnson’s plan to attach the voting bill to the defense bill was essentially a doomed strategy that would be rejected in the Senate.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 disappointing,鈥� acknowledged Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who insisted the GOP would try again.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep trying because we have to,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not done doing big things.鈥�
As America celebrates its 250th birthday, Congress is adrift
The founders of the new democracy clearly had aspirations for the Congress, putting it first in the Constitution as the Article One branch of government, ahead of the executive and judicial branches.
But as lawmakers face voters this fall, they will have to answer for these dwindling days on their calendar.
House Democratic Leader said the problem is not the Congress, it’s the GOP.
鈥淒onald Trump is fighting with Senate Republicans, Senate Republicans are fighting with House Republicans, and House Republicans are fighting with each other,鈥� said Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win control in fall.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the Congress that鈥檚 struggling. It鈥檚 House Republicans who are struggling,鈥� he said.
Jeffries said Democrats are fighting 鈥渢o make life more affordable for the American people.鈥�
As they left the Capitol for an extended recess, lawmakers voiced frustration with the House鈥檚 dysfunction.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the Republican Party to become an independent earlier this year, said the situation in the House is 鈥渇rustrating.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 just like d茅j脿 vu where many times now we run into some sort of obstacle,” he said, 鈥渢hen the solution is just to go home.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
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