Canceled Recess Upends Senators' Plans

Senators will return to business next week instead of going on their planned recess, because Senator Harry Reid , the majority leader, said they have to. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is happy about it.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the lead Republican on the Budget Committee, complained in a news release Friday that in spite of Mr. Reid’s insistence that they need to stay in town to work on negotiations to raise the nation’s debt ceiling , Mr. Reid and the Senate Democrat leadership “have not scheduled any budget markup or any action on the debt ceiling or related matters.”

(There are numerous meetings scheduled next week between the White House and Senate Democrats, but nothing specific is set for the floor of the Senate.)

“They know that they cannot produce a plan that will both prevent the most predictable economic crisis in American history and sustain their big-government vision,” said Mr. Sessions, who called for the scrapping of the Fourth of July recess weeks ago. “It appears no resolution will be brought forward next week, only more closed-door meetings and selectively disseminated information.

Say Anything » Senator Harry Reid Again Snubs Kent Conrad On Debt ...

Back when President Obama called on congressional leaders to select members of Congress to serve in budget negotiations to be led by Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader rather pointedly left Senate Budget Committee Chairman, and self-styled “budget hawk,” Kent Conrad out of the loop .

Now Conrad has gotten a snub from his majority leader yet again. Senator Conrad was downright gleeful at news that the talks being led by Biden had broken down, with Republicans leaving due to Democrats being unwilling to budge on tax hikes. Conrad was hoping that this was a window for his Gang of

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Thursday that the current impasse at the Biden debt-limit talks may provide an opportunity for his bipartisan negotiating group.

Conrad, the Senate Budget Committee chairman, said that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) exit from the Biden talks may mean that the Gang of Six – currently the “Five Guys,” since the departure of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) – may be able to “play a constructive role.”

With House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announcing he’s leaving the talks and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) demanding President Obama step in on the issue of taxes, Reid said only the senior leaders of the Senate and House can work out a deal with the president.

“I think that now with what Kyl and Cantor have done, it’s in the hands of the Speaker and the president and sadly, probably me,” Reid told reporters…

Reid shot down a notion floated moments earlier by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) that his group of five deficit negotiators could step up and play a leadership role. Conrad had said that he was preparing a two-step legislative proposal to deal with the debt-ceiling crisis and long-term debt problem. …

“My honest feeling is that we are beyond gangs of five and gangs of sixes. The work they’ve done is extremely important,” Reid said.

Searchlight, The Camp That Didn't Fail

The Good Fight, Hard Lessons from Searchlight to Washington

Congressional Record

Congressional staff directory

Seeds of Change, The Story of ACORN, America's Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group