GOP: We won't work past 2 p.m.
In their bid to delay health-care reform, Republicans have a new tactic: Technically permissable sloth
In their bid to obstruct health-care reform in the Senate, Republicans have a bold new directive: Simply refuse to work past 2 p.m. Strangely enough, this ostensibly lazy move is supported by an obscure Senate rule which states that hearings can't happen after that time. The "childish, petty" GOP won't win support for their cause by backlogging "important proceedings at the expense of taxpayer dollars," says Alan Comes at Liberaland. Still, notes Ezra Klein at the Washington Post, Democrats have used this "old minority trick," too. We need to reform the "Senate rulebook" and get rid of these "procedural tantrums" once and for all. In this video, a March 23 hearing on government transparency is halted at exactly 2 p.m. (00:30):
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Senegal's Bassirou Diomaye Faye: from prison to Africa's youngest elected leader
Why everyone's talking about The 44-year-old has resonated with young people by promising to shake up the establishment and enact economic reforms
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
How social media is limiting political content
The Explainer Critics say Meta's 'extraordinary move' to have less politics in users' feeds could be 'actively muzzling civic action'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Unthinkable tragedy'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published