House Republicans swear they’re not on vacation.

The House has been out since the government shutdown began, and then some. It last conducted legislative business on Sept. 19. But Republicans are doing “some of the most meaningful work of their careers,” Speaker Mike Johnson said at his Monday news conference.

On Tuesday he brought some video receipts: Footage of lawmakers cleaning up parklands, meeting with air traffic controllers or visiting rural hospitals back home in their districts while the current funding lapse ripples through the country.

“This is not what I call a vacation,” Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, told reporters last week.

But whenever Johnson does allow the House to gavel back into session, it will have little to show for the month of October, outside of monotonous da

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