No, Mr. Obama, the House is not going to adjourn for the July 4 break so you can claim that they are abandoning America. The Democrats in the House attempted to use a rule governing floor debate to instigate a break for the House over the holiday, but House Republicans invoked the power they have as the majority party to deny the vacation and instead remain in Washington to continue cutting the budget on spending bills.
The adjournment idea was propounded by the Democrats under the aegis of the floor-debate rule, which says members cannot block resolutions that provide for adjournment. The reason that language is in the rule is because the law states the House cannot leave until all 12 spending bills are done. Only four of the bills are completed, so the House couldn’t take a break, but the language of the rule allows them to go.
But House Republicans were smart enough not to use the rule to go on vacation, which would have given Barack Obama a club to beat them with. Instead, they did what has been done in the House 36 of the last 38 years; they decided to stay and gut it out until they finish their work. That’s good, because they are cutting H.R. 5972 by almost $4 billion, and they are cutting H.R. 5973 by $365 million, both actions fought by the Democrats.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) spoke of the Democrats attempts to force the House to abandon their efforts:
“While my liberal colleagues would undoubtedly prefer to borrow and spend more, and continue to ignore the dire fiscal realities of our country, House Republicans remain committed to reining in wasteful spending, even if it involves making difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions in order to save our country from fiscal ruin. The simple truth is we cannot afford to fund every program at the bloated levels that for many years kept political promises but in the end hurt the fiscal stability of our country.”
House Republicans are not willing to be outmaneuvered by Obama. Good for them.