On Capitol Hill, it’s ‘back to school’ all over again

It’s back to school time on Capitol Hill.

But not really until next week.

What?

Even though millions of kids returned to school just after Labor Day, the end of August, or, in some cases, even earlier in August, Congress still isn’t in session yet for the fall term.

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That comes on Monday, September 9. That’s when the House and Senate come back for legislative action for the first time in more than a month. The Senate last voted on August 1. The House was supposed to be in session until then as well. But the House shaved an entire week off its schedule in July, abandoning Washington a week earlier.

But things around the Capitol are starting to return to normal.

And yours truly – along with some members of the Congressional press corps – began filtering back into the Capitol this week.

My mother taught second grade for decades in Ohio. And she would usually return to school for a few days in late August for meetings and to prepare her room for the new school year.

So, some Congressional aides, the administrative staff and some reporters came back to the Capitol this week to “prepare their rooms” for the new school year.

But the analogies of Congress returning to session just like students filing back into the classroom is imperfect. This isn’t the start of a new Congress. People don’t have new teachers and new lockers. There aren’t new kids from other schools. The promise and energy of opportunity associated with a new year doesn’t permeate the air. Everything is pretty much the same as it was on Capitol Hill in September as it was in July. The “true” start of the “school year” comes at noon on January 3, 2025 when they swear-in the 119th Congress. That’s when new people appear. There are new chairmen and chairwomen of committees. Some lawmakers get new offices. The Capitol usually throbs with optimism.

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The only thing students and Members of Congress have in common at this time of year is the desire to get out of school. That universal yearning is common year round among students and lawmakers. Everyone wants to get out. Be free. Be on recess.

Perhaps it’s only appropriate that they call a Congressional break “recess.” However, some optics-conscious lawmakers frequently refer to such respites as the more dignified and anodyne “district work period.”

Can you imagine students referring to anything after 7th period as “the homework period?” The “Algebra II Augmentation?” How about the “Earth Science Addendum?”

Pray tell, what would college students call spring break in Panama City? “Sprint Semester By the Sea.” Perhaps “A Guide To Local Open Container Laws.” Maybe “A Survey of Legal Systems in the Caribbean.”

But back to Congress.

It’s an election year. And lawmakers utterly can’t wait to get out of here – even though they haven’t really been here all summer.

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The legislative traffic in Congress was light all year. The assassination attempt of former President Trump and the backroom struggle among Democrats to convince President Biden to step aside consumed the bulk of everyone’s attention this summer. The last major bills Congress tackled came in April. Congress finally approved a set of bills to fund the government – which were due last October. And Congress greenlighted assistance to Israel and Ukraine. Other than that, Congress didn’t have a lot to do other than to get through the conventions. Now it’s on to the election where both the House and Senate are divided by a razor’s edge. The same with the Presidential election. So there’s not a lot to do on Capitol Hill. And lawmakers who are retiring or lost their primaries are more than happy to skip out of Washington early.

So this is hardly “back to school.” In Congressional terms, the fall is often reminiscent of what students encounter in the spring. It’s getting hot out. The mind wanders. Teachers struggle to keep everyone focused. Everyone is looking forward to summer break. It’s a little like the seasons are reversed in Congress.

The House is slated to meet next week for four days. Then four days the week of September 15. And finally, five days the week of August 22. That’s it until Tuesday, November 12. But there is even chatter that the House could (I’ll underscore could) give back the final week of September – if Congress has funded the government and there’s no chance of a shutdown on October 1. That’s when the government’s new fiscal year begins.

Yes, like school, Congress must complete its work before recess. But sometimes Congress doesn’t meet the deadline and needs a remedial course. “Summer school.” Only that’s “fall and winter school” in the eyes of Congress. Or even “spring school.” Remember, it took Congress until this past April to fully fund the government last time. They burned through three seasons alone right there. It’s not quite clear what the principal would have done with students as delinquent as this Congress finishing its work.

But like students, Congress has similar motivations. Anything to get home. Go to the beach. Take a break. Or, in this case, campaign.

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House Republicans are struggling with fundraising. Democrats are on the charge after the switch out with Vice President Harris. Both parties know the House will hinge on a handful of seats. And it’s likely that whichever party captures the White House will dictate the party in control of the House in 2025.

So both sides have equal motivation.

It’s similar in the Senate – although it’s a tougher challenge for the Democrats to maintain their narrow 51-49 majority. West Virginia is likely gone after the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., who caucuses with the Democrats. And Democrats must hold swing seats in red states like Ohio and Montana. That’s to say nothing of maintaining seats in battleground states like Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

So school is back for now. And it doesn’t even matter if Congress hits the books between now and the end of the term. A big test is coming up. The voters will deliver quite the education to lawmakers on election day.

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