by Alex M. Parker

Emboldened GOP may challenge political legitimacy of controversial legislation

It seems appropriate that departing lawmakers encountered a torrential downpour as they left Washington last Thursday after wrapping up another stormy legislative session. The ugly weather did little to slow their rush home to get onto the campaign trail, after months of partisan clashes that ran out the pre-election clock on a number of high-profile issues.

Lawmakers left substantial work undone, and some of it will have to be decided during a post-election, lame-duck session. Congress failed to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, despite a push from the White House to extend all but the tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans. A continuing resolution will keep the government funded, but only until December 3. Congress will have to act to keep the government running through 2011. And after the contentious issue of gays in the military derailed the defense authorization bill, Congress will have to take up the measure again before shutting the books on the 111th Congress.

The Senate has yet to act on many House-passed measures, such as a bill to deal with Chinese currency manipulation. In addition, Congress may consider recommendations from the deficit commission, established through an executive order by President Obama, that is required to release its findings by December 1.

The lack of action, especially on tax cuts, has already become a campaign issue. But House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio acknowledged last week that both parties share blame for the "dysfunction" on Capitol Hill. "The mission of the United State Congress is to serve the American people--and today, due in part to institutional barriers that have been in place for decades, that mission goes unfulfilled," he said.

Democrats say that the partisan electoral atmosphere made it too tough to wrap up controversial work. Democrats have promised to pass an extension of most of the tax cuts during the lame-duck session, blaming Republicans for opposing anything but a full-scale extension. But many wonder whether the Senate will be any more productive after the election than it was in September.

If Democrats lose many seats, Republican are likely to challenge whether a defeated Democratic majority has the political mandate to pass controversial legislation. Democratic-backed legislation "would be seen as nonlegitimate," said John Samples, a congressional analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington. He anticipates that Congress may act on the tax cuts and pass something "along the lines of a continuing resolution" to keep the government funded, but won't have the political will to do much else.

What's more, the Democrats' majority in the Senate could be slimmer than it is now, even though most senators won't take office until January. Temporary appointees currently occupy seats for Delaware, Illinois, and West Virginia, but none of them are running in the elections. The winners of the November contests for those seats will not only get to sit in the new Senate but also to finish out the current, unexpired terms.

In other words, if Republicans win in any of those contests, the GOP minority will be stronger even before the 112th Congress is sworn in--possibly worsening the deadlock and making it harder for Democrats to complete their agenda.

 

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Congress Pushes Final Work to Post-Election Lame Duck Session | Politics

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