The Congress So Far
An ugly finish to a rocky start

Sunday, August 5, 2007; B06

FORGET ABOUT November's bipartisan promises of civility and cooperation in Congress. At the time they seemed overly optimistic. Nonetheless, it is hard to believe that relations could have deteriorated so far so fast -- both between the new Democratic majority and congressional Republicans and between Democratic lawmakers and President Bush.

Thursday's late-night rumble on the House floor, when a vote was gaveled to what Democrats acknowledge was a premature close, epitomized the ugliness that has overtaken the entire legislative process. In the end, the 110th Congress headed for its August recess with civility in shreds and achievements sparse. Indeed, the only thing that might make August look pleasant is September, when lawmakers will return to resume the acrimonious debate over Iraq policy and confront the looming end of the fiscal year with spending bills unpassed and presidential vetoes in the offing.

There have been scraps of good news from the first seven months. Lawmakers managed to see two of their priorities become law: an increase in the minimum wage and passage of the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission. Another major achievement, a lobbying and ethics reform bill that will make important changes in the way Washington does business, is awaiting Mr. Bush's signature. Both chambers passed versions of a measure to extend the health insurance program for children in low-income families.

But many other Democratic priorities -- and a big presidential one, immigration reform -- were snarled in the Senate. The 60-vote majority needed to overcome a filibuster proved to be as big an impediment for majority Democrats as the Democrats had made it when Republicans held power. The failure of immigration reform, of which there had been at least a hope of bipartisan achievement, was a particularly low note. Meanwhile, Democrats in both chambers chose to spend countless hours mired in a fruitless effort to compel an "end" to the war in Iraq.

One of the most disappointing recent developments has been the administration's apparent decision, in the aftermath of the immigration bill's failure, that there was not much to be gained from working with this Congress -- and something to gained by taking it on. This new belligerence has manifested itself in a blizzard of veto threats -- Democrats counted up 31 between May 1 and Aug. 1 -- the most regrettable of which involves the children's health insurance bill.

In the final hours before recess, it was hard to know which was more shameful: the administration's use of the looming vacation to bully Democrats into accepting its overbroad rewrite of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or Democrats' spinelessness in caving to this strong-arming.

On the House side, a major disappointment was the failure of Democrats to live up to their pledge to treat the new Republican minority better than Democrats were treated when Republicans held power. Democrats promised a new, more open House, with adequate time for members to digest complex legislation and ample opportunity for the minority to offer amendments on the floor; instead, they, too, often used the same hardball tactics to muscle through legislation that Republicans had employed. That might have been understandable in the Democrats' "first 100 hours" that the new Congress was in session, but it is unfortunate that it persisted until the recess. That's no way to do business, and Democrats know it.