The Endless August Recess

In the dog days of August in Washington, D.C., with Congress off on its district-work period, the House still convenes biweekly pro-forma sessions, in which a handful of straggler representatives assemble in front of an empty chamber. When I watched one unfold on a recent morning, the Speaker pro tempore presided over the customary reading of a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and the legislative day concluded within five minutes. The halls were quiet without Hill reporters waiting to chase lawmakers down; the action had temporarily relocated from the Capitol. After Mike Johnson called for an early start to the House’s August recess, this year, in order to prevent a vote on releasing the Epstein files , he sent Republicans home with the directive to sell the One Big Beautiful Bill