Carman: Our do-nothing House of Representatives takes an emergency recess to avoid doing something

Colorado’s delegation, along with the rest of the U.S. House of Representatives, got a couple of extra days off last week at taxpayers’ expense. They weren’t snow days, more like snow job days.

The objective of the so-called “Epstein recess” was to avoid embarrassing or possibly even implicating the president when it became obvious that the chamber was poised to vote to release the files on the investigations into the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s sleazy pedophile buddy. 

Heck, even Lauren Boebert, one of the most consistently slavish of Trump’s acolytes, stood ready to join Democrats in voting for the measure to make the files public. No wonder Speaker Mike Johnson opted for the nuclear option and shut the place down. 

He knew he couldn’t even mobilize the MAGA goons to stage a January 6-style insurrection to stop the vote. They wanted those files released and were understandably furious about the betrayal.

After all, for years Trump fanned the QAnon conspiracy claims, suggesting that Democrats were withholding the files to protect Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and others who somehow supposedly were involved in a coverup — or something.

For years, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino were regulars on the right-wing podcast circuit demanding the release of the files. They were the darlings of the MAGA hordes. 

And then they ended up at the top levels of the FBI and suddenly hit the mute button. 

Nothing to see here …

The only play left was to get Johnson to genuflect and stop the vote. A reliable Trump tool, he took a knee and complied.

It’s clearly a Hail Mary. Trump is betting on an acute epidemic of collective amnesia among the masses who even on a good day have the attention span of a guppie. 

The strategy is to spend six weeks distracting the MAGA faithful and others calling for the release of the files so they can bury the Epstein story in a blizzard of dissimulation and chaos. 

Let’s face it, it’ll probably work.

By Labor Day, we’ll instead be focused on kids going back to school with measles, removing factually accurate historical information at national parks, maybe a few hurricanes or wildfires, and any number of other real or manufactured catastrophes on the horizon.

Brilliant, huh.

It’s a bit risky for the lawmakers, though, given that a Gallup poll in February measured Congress’ approval rating at 29%. I guess when 71% of the voters already hate you, you can convince yourself you have nothing to lose.

You’d be wrong, though.

There’s always the chance Americans will decide that since the congressional majority has relinquished the power of the purse — and every last shred of dignity and self-respect — the whole institution is a colossal waste of money. 

The 119^th Congress so far has rubberstamped presidential nominees no matter how clownishly unqualified, allowed the president to sabotage overwhelmingly popular bipartisan legislation from the Infrastructure Law of 2021 to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and failed to hold Trump accountable for lies, misconduct and blatantly monetizing the office of the president.

And now the Republican majority is reneging on a solemn promise to reveal all in the Epstein saga.

No wonder they cower at the thought of holding town halls in their districts.

The likely reason 29% of those in the Gallup poll said they approved of Congress is because a lot of Republicans were celebrating the fact that they went along with Trump’s dismantling of the federal government. 

It’s only a matter of time before these same enemies of the deep state decide the 119^th Congress itself is redundant and needs dismantling. Who will be left to defend this bunch of shameless sycophants when they sic the DOGE chainsaws on it?

Think about it. The U.S. Congress meets only 160 days a year at most and costs us billions in salaries, staffing, offices and travel. If a majority of its members aren’t willing to fulfill their constitutional role and do their jobs, how about giving them an unpaid sabbatical and suspending their benefits until the midterms when we can throw the bums out?

Heck, if we can’t afford scientists, diplomats, intelligence agents, doctors at the VA hospitals, meteorologists and emergency response teams, how can we justify paying for spineless toadies who can’t be bothered to read the bills they endorse and act like a bunch of drooling zombies in “The Night of the Living Dead”?

And what the heck, it just might be good for them to find out what it’s like to suddenly be out of work, locked out of their cushy offices and need to apply for Medicaid and SNAP benefits to get by.

Diane Carman is a Denver communications consultant.

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.

Follow Colorado Sun Opinion on Facebook.