If Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi have their way, members of a lame duck Congress will be given the opportunity to vote for one last reckless spending spree before their terms expire. That would be a disaster. And it would be wrong.
That this is the Biden-Pelosi plan is evident by the fact that the draft Continuing Resolution being discussed on Capitol Hill this week would extend government funding at its current levels until mid-December – that is, long enough to prevent any undue concern that the government will shut down, but short enough that there will be plenty of time for the lame duck Congress to pass one more lollapalooza of a spending bill before its term expires on January 3.
Actions by a lame duck Congress defeat the entire purpose of our form of representative government, where elected officials are meant to represent the wishes of their constituents, and are held accountable to them by means of elections held at regular intervals. It is the fear of negative constituent blowback – in its most extreme form, defeat for reelection – that holds members’ feet to the fire, and acts as a brake to prevent them from placing calculations of their own interests over the interests of their constituents.
Status as a lame duck member of Congress overcomes that brake. When a member of Congress is relieved of any need to stay on his constituents’ good side, he no longer has to consider how his constituents would want him to vote on a given issue. That's the equivalent of handing a teenager the keys to a Ferrari and telling him the speed limits no longer apply.
Will Rogers understood the dangers of a lame duck Congress. Writing in The New York Times on December 9, 1932 – that is, during the lame duck Congress that followed Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s defeat of Herbert Hoover – the fabled humorist opined, “It’s like where some fellows worked for you and their work wasn’t satisfactory, and you let ‘em out, but after you fired ‘em, you let ‘em stay long enough so they could burn your house down.”
The current Congress already has a burn-your-house-down, spending-happy majority. Last year, it enacted a $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” that didn’t rescue America at all. Instead, it fueled a raging inflation so bad we haven’t seen its likes in 40 years. And that bill passed when members knew they would be held accountable for it. Can you imagine how bad it will be when a sizable proportion of the membership knows it can cast its votes any way it wants, without any fear of negative constituent blowback?
I can. It will be terrible.
No fewer than 49 members of the House of Representatives have already announced they will not run for reelection. That’s far more than the post-World War II average of 35 retirements, and 25 percent more than retired in the last cycle immediately after redistricting, in 2012, when 39 retired.
Now assume Republican challengers defeat 20 incumbent Democrats (a conservative estimate), and assume a few Democrat challengers defeat a few GOP incumbents. That would translate to 75 or more new members of the House in the next Congress – which also means it would translate to 75 or more lame duck members of Congress who, between November 9 and January 3, could vote however they wanted to with no fear of negative constituent blowback.
That is a recipe for disaster.
It’s up to Senate Republicans to stop them.
The Continuing Resolution is a standard spending bill. Unlike last year’s $1.9 trillion inflation-driving bill – which passed without a single Republican vote in either chamber because it was a reconciliation bill, and was not subject to filibuster in the Senate – the Biden-Pelosi Continuing Resolution will be subject to filibuster. That is, even if every Democrat in both chambers votes for it, it will still need 10 Republican votes in the Senate to overcome a GOP filibuster.
Said another way, America needs 41 Senate Republicans to have the courage to stand in front of the Biden-Pelosi runaway spending train and yell, “Stop!” If 41 Senate Republicans are willing to stand up to the pressure that will be exerted by the Swamp, the Biden-Pelosi lame duck spending spree will come to a crashing halt.
Earlier this week, Republican Sens. Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee made clear their determination to stand against the Biden-Pelosi lame duck spending spree gambit.
Now begins the work of finding another 38 Senate Republicans to stand with Scott, Cruz, and Lee. America demands it.
Jenny Beth Martin is Honorary Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action.