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Congress goes on summer break: Top 5 things it left undone

Members of Congress have skedaddled for the month of August, leaving behind a long list of unfinished business.

What did Congress leave in the lurch? Here are five of the top pressing issues.

1. Taxes and the 'fiscal cliff'

Larry Downing/Reuters
President Obama talks about the need for Congress to ensure taxes don't go up for the majority of Americans next year, while in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, August 3.

  • By David Grant Staff writer

The House and Senate have each approved a bill to deal with the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts at year’s end. The GOP-controlled House passed a measure to keep all the current tax rates for another year, while the Democratic-led Senate approved a bill that would continue the tax breaks for households with income up to $250,000. 

Brandishing its favored bill, each party has tried to claim the moral high ground concerning leaving this task undone for at least another month. Democrats say Congress shouldn’t take a break until Republicans agree with them. House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio said in a letter to Senate leadership that when Democrats see the light and want to extend the Bush-era tax rates to everyone, he’ll be happy to call Congress back into session.  

Where does that leave Congress in relation to the $560 billion in lower government spending and higher taxes set to hit the US economy come Jan. 1? No closer to solving it.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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