Congress is not performing like they should. This has been a problem for decades.
And a leading Republican called out the U.S. Senate in a much needed rebuke.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is done waiting. While appearing on Fox New’s Sunday Morning Futures, the Minnesota Republican laid out a clear challenge to his colleagues across the Capitol: the Senate must stop sitting on legislation the House has delivered.
Emmer made plain that House Republicans have been moving priorities forward while the upper chamber lets key bills collect dust.
With limited legislative days left before members head home, the pressure is rising.
Host Cheryl Casone opened the exchange by zeroing in on the immediate calendar.
“Let’s first talk about the agenda,” she stated.
“What is at the top of the agenda? Obviously, short-term government funding. You want to avert any kind of pre-election shutdown. But what else are you watching? You have only got 16 legislative days before you leave again on October 1. What can you get done?”
Emmer did not dodge the funding question. He confirmed the continuing resolution that would keep the government running through December 11 sits at the top of the House list.
He then pivoted hard to the larger problem:
“Well, Cheryl, great to be with you this morning. First off, you hit the number one thing, the short-term funding bill that was sent over by the Senate, the continuing resolution that would fund the government through December 11. That will be a priority over in the House, because we get things done, Cheryl. That’s the whole issue.”
“You’re asking what our priorities are. We have sent our priorities over to the Senate. We sent the CLARITY Act, which is about digital assets, a market structure bill. We sent that a year ago, Cheryl, with almost 100 Democrat votes, and it languishes over in the Senate.”
Emmer kept the pressure on. He noted that the SAVE America Act has also been sent across multiple times only to sit idle.
“We sent the SAVE America Act several times, and it sits over there languishing in the Senate,” Emmer stated.
“And we sent over obviously reconciliation 3.0, which is also just sitting there in the Senate. It really is going to be a — on the Senate’s shoulders to start getting something done when we get back. As for the House, we have got appropriations bills. Many of our members have different priorities. Those will be addressed.”
“There’s a surface transportation bill that needs to be addressed by the 30th. Obviously, these would all be covered by the C.R. But these are the priorities of the House. And the House has been — the House has been working, Cheryl. We have been getting our stuff over to the Senate. The Senate’s got to start to perform.”
That final line captures the frustration many conservatives feel. The House has advanced its agenda. Now it’s the Senate’s turn to do something.
