When the House returned to work on Nov. 17 after a 43-day government shutdown and a 54-day recess ordered by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), it was a bitter homecoming. The usual backslapping and camaraderie were missing, replaced by a startlingly somber depression. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) described House temperament as “ugly,” saying, “The institution and American people deserve better than what we’ve seen this week.”
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In announcing late that Friday that she would be resigning from the House effective Jan. 5, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) perhaps best captured the frustration level of members. She charged that the “political-industrial complex of both parties,” with its emphasis on fund-raising, election campaigning and self-serving legislation, was crowding out any opportunity to consider legislation to help “the common American man and woman.” The weaponization of the ethics process was only a symptom of the House’s collective frustration but it reflects the deeper, heartfelt anger over how the two shutdowns prevented members from doing the serious work they were elected to do — representing their constituents’ views and addressing the nation’s most vexing problems.