Weekly Wrap-Up: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Averts one Final Disaster

The week of course had its winners and losers in the debt deal however there were a few more loose ends that Congress was able to deal with before recess began. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid was able to get the FAA deal done before the recess, completing the last potentially embarrassing task left for Congress to address before leaving town for August recess and henceforth saving members from having to spend their recess reading an onslaught of blistering articles about their own ineptness and the inability of the body to get things done. Let’s take a quick look back at the week’s affairs.

Tuesday: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held nomination hearings for ambassador posts to Syria, Turkey & the Czech Republic. All of the nominees currently hold these positions but are  recess appointments made by the President last December and have not yet been confirmed by the Senate.

Wednesday: After weeks of seemingly endless bickering followed by negotiations then more bickering and then another round of negotiations, the President signed a debt plan just hours before the deadline set by the Treasury Department to avoid default.
The plan requires for a special joint committee, the so called “Super Congress,” made up of six Democrats and six Republicans. This committee must find at least $1.2 trillion of deficit reduction in spending cuts or revenue increases and produce a bill with its recommendations late November.

Thursday: The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa held a hearing on ethnic cleansing and the humanitarian crisis in Southern Sudan. Earlier this week Southern Sudan’s largest rebel group declared a cease fire. Southern Sudan voted in January with immense celebration to split from the north, but rebel forces have continued to fight with government in the new country.

Now the “smack-down of the week” comes from the public and is served to the entire Congress for the hilarious “slow clap.” The public has expresses their jubilation as Congress has finally done their job of passing a budget and raising the debt ceiling.

Enjoy the recess you’ve all earned it, as have I. I’ll be back throughout the recess with a few highlights between now and then on what members are doing in their districts. Then I’ll be back after Labor Day to cover what’s happening on the Hill.