A Few Essential Words to Understand this Moment

If there's one thing politicians love it's getting elected.

And if there are two things politicians love they are getting elected and then talking about what they're doing in elected office with words that make zero sense to the people who elected them. Words like reconciliation, budget resolution, Continuing Resolution.

With all this resolution talk, you'd think Congress was one of the best mediators on the planet.

So get yourself a comfy seat and let's crack open the Congressional dictionary. Because when we understand what's going on, we're better positioned to determine what's worth our attention and what's worth our action.

Continuing Resolution
Congress funds our federal government – from Yosemite National Park and air traffic controllers to food safety inspectors at meatpacking plants and scientific research grants – in one-year increments that normally start October 1st and end September 30.

But Congress has developed an allergy to doing things normally. So in walks the continuing resolution (CR), meaning Congress resolves to continue funding the government at the current level. And both parties have leaned on CRs in recent years.

CRs aren't an especially high art form. Each year brings its own unique issues - wildfires, measles outbreaks, plane crashes - that deserve a tailored funding response. CRs may include a few new funding priorities, but generally, they are a blunt tool to prevent a government shutdown.

Reconciliation
Congress being Congress, this word has little to do with restoring friendly relationships across difference. Here are the cliff notes on reconciliation: it's a way to pass a bill in the Senate with only 51 votes.

Dems used it to pass Obamacare in 2010 and the American Rescue Plan (i.e. COVID relief in 2021). The GOP used it to pass tax cuts in 2001, 2003, and 2017. So let's untangle why that matters.

Right now, the Republicans have a 53-vote majority in the Senate. But to pass most bills in the esteemed upper chamber of Congress (ahem, Senate), you need 60 votes. If you don't have 60 votes, you will get filibustered, which prevents a vote on a bill.

Now the GOP rightly assumes that getting seven Democratic votes for a package of tax cuts is as likely as finding $15,000 in couch cushion change. So they dipped into the Congressional bag of tricks and pulled out reconciliation to pass tax reform and a host of other items on the White House wish list.

The first step in reconciliation is both the House and Senate have to pass a...

Budget Resolution
You would naturally think this budget resolution is about regular government funding.

And it sort of is, but also not.

This budget resolution is basically a budget plan that the House and Senate pass (the President doesn't need to sign it) with assignments for House and Senate Committees to find ways to make the plan happen.

Now Congress has hit a bit of a snafu: the House and Senate have passed very different budget resolutions.

The House passed a budget resolution to have all the administration's priorities rolled up in one bill. Across the Capitol, the Senate passed a resolution that lays the ground for a two-bill reconciliation strategy.

But the GOP controls both chambers? Why the intra-family squabbling?

The Senate wants to give the White House a quick first win on defense and border security spending, then take on the tougher issues of tax reform later. The House, with its razor-thin majority, doesn't want to stomach two major votes.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson tells us that springtime is when a young man's fancy turns to love. It's also when the 119th Congress turns to sorting out this prickly reconciliation situation.

Recess
Congress has two work modes (and beast mode isn't one of them): session, when politicians are in D.C. legislating and recess, when they are back in their home districts or states.

Notably, Members of Congress aren't fans of the word "recess," as it connotes playing on the monkey bars and capture the flag. They have tried to rebrand it as "district work periods."

And we, also, deserve recess periods. Times when we put D.C. on the back burner and go wander a wooded trail or make a glorious mess of the kitchen trying a new recipe (I'm still finding shredded carrot under the microwave and toaster from this really tasty morning glory muffin number).

This can be an extractive season. It can deplete our energy, our time, our reserves of hope and belief in what's possible. So as Ovid wrote, "Take rest. A field that has rested yields a bountiful crop."

We will get through this time; and what we do now will help shape what comes on the other side of it. Regular recess is essential.

When your recess period ends, here are some of my favorite actions from making your voice heard with Congress and building up your power. And should it all feel overwhelming, I'll leave you with one of my favorite approaches to change from tennis great Arthur Ashe: "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."