Do you think it's odd that the House will not be in session for a few days?

[hedgehog]

Granted, seeing a Representative shot is very unusual, but other Representatives have been knocked out of commission or even killed by illness or accident. I don't remember the House of the Senate ever shutting down in those cases.

Am I too partisan for thinking that the House is shutting down until the Republicans can figure out some talking points that attack the Health Care Bill without feeding red meat to the Tea Party?

[canoeist52]

1. Hoping it'll all blow over in a few days..

[lunatica]

2. Whatever it is the Republicans are up to no good

It's hard to be the party of no and to throw insults and lies around after an incident like this. It makes them look too much like what they are. Craven.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. They are trying to figure out a way to set up an elaborate bureaucracy...

to guard Congressmen without adding to the deficit.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. No. The Republicans didn't want to look bad trying to repeal the very health care bill

that Giffords voted for. The irony should not be lost on anyone!

All they care about is politics!

[Inchworm]

18. That was my conclusion as well

:banghead:

[harun]

31. Yup.

[onenote]

5. Has there been an announcement that the House won't be in session?

The Senate was always scheduled to be on recess from Jan 10 until after the MLK Birthday holiday; the House schedule was to be in session Mon, Tues and Wed and then go on recess through the holiday.

The only announcement I've seen is that the repub leadership has decided not to bring up the HCR repeal bill this week as originally planned, but the House is still scheduled to be in session as far as I know (and according to the official House calendar)

[hedgehog]

6. I may have misunderstood the report. I think they are postponing consideration

of the HCR for the same reason I gave when I thought they were not going to be in session at all; because they have nothing respectable to say at the moment.

[applegrove]

7. They are loosing the debate on health care this week. That is why they put it off. Dems messaging

has gotten through. Especially the part about health care saving government money.

[onenote]

9. there is no "debate"

The repubs are going to vote as a bloc to repeal. Its naive to think that any amount of "debate" is going to change their minds. That being said, we need to pound home the message that HCR doesn't "kill" jobs or raise the deficit and that it provides tangible, concrete benefits to the average American.

[bullwinkle428]

8. Boner and Cantor are pissing themselves in fear.

[AlinPA]

10. Yes. I don't understand.

[onenote]

11. what don't you understand?

First, the House is going to be in session.
Second, they are postponing the vote on HCR reform. Why? A variety of factors, including, according to staffers I spoke to, a desire of members on both sides of the aisle not to take up an emotional and contentious issue while a member of Congress fights for her life. I doubt that much will be done over the next few days other than a lot of speeches by members decrying the shooting and some routine business, if that.

[AlinPA]

28. I don't understand why the republicans don't charge ahead with their agenda in the house. I don't

think republicans really care about taking up the HCR repeal vote while she is in critical care from the shooting. At best, it is play acting by them.

[onenote]

29. it was a bi-partisan decision by the repub and Democratic leadership

[AlinPA]

30. OK. IMO, it's more like an act by Boehner than bipartisanship. nt

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[William769]

13. I believe being shot in the head is NOT the same as illness or a accident.

I think it is prudent they have cancelled for awhile to get the bigger picture.

[onenote]

14. again, I don't believe the House has cancelled tomorrow's session

The only thing that has been cancelled that I'm aware of is the vote on HCR reform that was planned for Wednesday.

[William769]

15. I thought I heard the majority leader say the house will not be in session for the week

So they may discuss security measures of it's members. Although I heard this yesterday under a lot of stress, I may have misunderstood.

[onenote]

16. you may be right, but I can't find anything indicating that they won't be in session

I suspect that there won't be much done in the way of regular business, however.

[William769]

17. Here is a link.

“Last night, the Majority Leader announced that the normal business of the House in the coming week has been postponed so that we can take necessary action regarding yesterday's events. The Majority Leader will announce a revised schedule."



http://speaker.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=219378

[onenote]

19. pro forma session on Tuesday, limited session on Wednesday

When the House adjourned on Friday, Monday already was scheduled to be an "off day" -- the next scheduled session as of Friday was this Tuesday. And the House calendar issued at the beginning of the year indicates that they were scheduled to recess on Thursday through the MLK Holiday.

Here is what cantor said about the schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday:

http://majorityleader.house.gov/newsroom/2011/01/leader-cantor-statement-on-the-legislative-schedule-for-the-week-of-january-10th.html

"In consultation with the Speaker and the Democratic Leadership, I have postponed all previously-scheduled legislation for the coming week to accommodate any action needed in light of yesterday's tragic events in Arizona.

“The House will meet on Tuesday in pro forma session and there will be no votes or legislative business expected for that day.

“On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business and we will consider at least one resolution honoring Representative Giffords and honoring those who have fallen, including Federal Judge John Roll and Gabe Zimmerman, a member of Congresswoman Giffords' congressional staff.

“At the request of bipartisan Members from the Arizona delegation and the Democratic Leadership, it is my intention to not have a recorded vote for the resolution. As Members know, however, we cannot assure that a recorded vote will not be requested. We will continue to be in close contact with the Democratic Leadership regarding those matters, along with the substance of the resolution, and will relay them as they become available.

“For now, it is my recommendation that all Members of the House who can, return to Washington to honor those who have fallen and to receive any necessary security briefings from the U.S. Capitol Police. I will defer on the latter issue to the Speaker and the Sergeant At Arms.”

[Empowerer]

20. I wouldn't read too much into it

They're not going out of session - just cancelling votes and not holding committee hearings/meetings. Under the circumstances, it is not unreasonable.

This shooting isn't about just one Member - there is a lot for many Members and their staffs to grapple with. It is appropriate for them to put votes and hearings on hold for a few days, especially since there is nothing urgent on the schedule.

Btw, this seems to be happening with the full consultation with and concurrence by the Dems.

[onenote]

23. +1

[golfguru]

21. The House will vote on HCR on Wednesday is what I heard /nt

[onenote]

27. that was the original plan before Saturday. Regular business is being deferred this week

in the aftermath of the shooting.

[old mark]

22. K&R- Boner is taking time off to allow the story to die down so the GOP

can get all noisey and try to repeal "Obamacare" without any negative effects form the shootings...don't want to hurt the anti-Obama campaign just because a few people got killed, do they?


mark

[babylonsister]

24. Golf? rethugs wanted to scale back their schedule; perfect opportunity.

Yea, color me cynical. :hide:

[onenote]

26. as noted above, it was a bipartisan decision not to conduct business this week

[butterfly77]

25. They talked big shit..

now they are afraid. I just saw mike allen from politico say that the CONS are discussing how Sarah should come out now and make a speech and how this can rehabilitate her as a leader..

[demokatgurrl]

32. My thought was

they want to 1) make a good show of "shock" and feeling bad and 2) hope everyone will forget about what Giffords stood for when the Repukes go back to repeal health care law.

[sad sally]

33. Do they ever put in a full week of work? Oh yeah, I forgot...

walking the halls collecting their cash from lobbyists IS WORK!

[tnvoter]

34. they have to re-write their talkingpoints to avoid gun-themes...

this will take a few days.