Unsettled political circumstances and the ongoing pandemic crossed with Congress’ broken bill-passing process is a recipe for chaos.
by Eric Boehm
Reason.com
By the end of this week, Congress might pass another massive COVID-19 relief bill aimed at bailing out small businesses and filling the coffers of state and local governments—or the federal government might be heading into another end-of-year shutdown.
That such a wide range of outcomes exists is as much an indication of Congress’ broken and dysfunctional bill-passing procedure as it is a sign of the uniquely weird lame-duck session the government is currently staggering through. With control of the Senate still undecided pending two runoff elections in Georgia next month and President Donald Trump (and many Republicans in Congress) still refusing to acknowledge the result of last month’s election, the unsettled political situation is spilling over into the policy making arena.