A Period of Grace

Be of good cheer. Legislatively, our elected officials have not been able to do anything of consequence to us, applauds James Freeman in the WSJ. Instead of viewing the legislature pace as “limping and slogging,” many could view the break as “refreshingly reasonable and charmingly deliberate.”

Burgess Everett and Olivia Beavers report for Politico:

The new Congress has accomplished almost nothing so far — and conservatives are quite pleased about it.

For Republicans who want to slow President Joe Biden’s agenda and court confrontation with Democrats, the beginning of the year has played out beautifully. The House and Senate have not passed any new laws, the speaker is jostling with Biden over the debt ceiling and the new Congress’ most significant collaboration was agreeing to meet for the State of the Union.

Will the Honeymoon Last

According to Politico, “the Democratic Senate has held just eight roll-call votes on nominees and approved only one piece of new legislation alongside a host of non-binding resolutions. The House GOP, meanwhile, has rammed through dozens of bills — few, if any, of which have a chance of coming to the Senate floor.”

It’s a preview of the long slog that Washington expects during divided government. But the limping pace is also a textbook example of the strategy some Republicans hope to execute for the next two years, running out the clock on Biden’s presidency and betting on beating him in 2024.