Tag: Do-Nothing Congress

Tuberville the Truth-Teller

Buck Banks

“Why should we keep the majority? We’ve gotten one bill passed, and that was President Trump pushing and pushing and pushing, and it took us 18 hours to get Republicans to vote for it — 18 hours straight on the Senate floor. And it’s embarrassing that we’re up here raising money to continue with the same people being up here. It’s just nonsense.”

— Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), on Benny Johnson’s podcast.

Approval of Congress Hits New Low

Buck Banks

15%

A new Gallup poll finds just 15% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. And in what may be an ominous sign for Republicans, the share of GOP voters who view Congress favorably dropped 21 points to just 33% in the poll conducted just after the shutdown began — a stark shift from a high of 63% earlier this year, after Republicans gained control of both chambers.

What Federal Employee Marjorie Taylor Greene Did Last Week

Pensito Editors

Pensito Illustration
President Elon Musk sent out a not-human-resources-approved email to hundreds of thousands of federal employees last week:

“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote on X, which he owns. The post ends: “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

Federal employee Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) provided the following bullet points to DOGE:

Dear Leader Musk, in the past week, acting in my capacity as a federal employee:

  • I trashed federal workers at a congressional hearing, stating that none of them “deserve” paychecks. I quote myself: “The bureaucracy is not a business. Those are not real jobs producing federal revenue. By the way, they’re consuming taxpayer dollars. Those jobs are paid for by the American tax people who work real jobs, earn real income, pay federal taxes, and then pay these federal employees. Federal employees do not deserve their jobs. Federal employees do not deserve their paychecks.”
  • I came under fire by my congressional colleagues after it emerged I purchased between $4,000 and $60,000 worth of Tesla stock on January 8 after I was selected to chair the House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee.
  • I defended President Trump after my Democratic colleague Rep. Melanie Stansbury referred to Donald Trump as a “king” Wednesday. Stansbury said, “Let me say this to you, Mr. Trump. Two hundred fifty years ago, the people of this great nation rejected a reckless, abusive king, and we won’t go back.” So I said, after recognizing myself for closing remarks, “Threats against the president of the United States will not be tolerated by anyone.”
  • I helpfully showed the Congressional calendar to constituents on X: “This is our House calendar for 2025. Yellow is our in session weeks. Thought it would be good to share for anyone planning trips to visit your Representative.” Of course, people took it the wrong way: “So you rake in $174K a year, get top-tier healthcare, and play the stock market with insider tips, all for working eight days a month? Not bad. Maybe if you lived on minimum wage for a year, you’d finally get why folks are drowning while you all cash in.”
  • I did not update the calendar on my congressional website, which shows the last entry as a Town Hall in Dade County, Georgia, October 3, 2024, at 6 p.m.

Congress Leaves Town Mad; GOP Margin Down to One

Buck Banks

1

Punchbowl News: “The 118th Congress is the least productive in decades. And everyone left town mad as they do the bare minimum legislatively with the November election looming …. Things are so bad that members are just quitting Congress without even telling party leaders. House Republicans will be down to a one-vote margin soon. One. Vote.”