Summer’s over. Congress is basically heading back to school. We’ve got some new kids and some familiar faces, and we’re going to break down what happened this week.
All I ask for in 2020 are candidates who are as reliably gesticulative as 2016 Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. This week, Sanders introduced the Stop BEZOS Act, which would tie a large company’s taxes to the benefits its workers receive. What’s a BEZOS, anyway? Is it something I can order on Amazon?
Look who was laboring on Labor Day. Joe “Finger Guns” Biden, who took part in a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh. He broke a literal sweat running, while everyone else broke a sweat trying to figure out if he’ll also run for president in 2020.
Meanwhile, in Washington, SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing started on Tuesday. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is making the same face I made on Wednesday when I heard they were all there until 10 p.m. on a school night.
And how’s Kavanaugh doing? Well, the short answer is that it probably doesn’t matter (nothing does) because Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Senate, so we’re not talking a huge hurdle to get to 50 votes. But Democrats on the committee are doing their darndest to fight it. And scores of protesters have been arrested.
Speaking of Republican senators, there’s a new/old kid on the block. Former/current Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona was sworn in this week, replacing the late Sen. John McCain.
And what’s Donald President Trump been up to? Well, first of all, he looks somewhat taken aback by the end of this handshake with the Emir of Kuwait. Also, it’s not been a great week. First, excerpts from journalist Bob Woodward’s book shook things up. Then an anonymous senior administration official wrote a not-so-positive op-ed in The New York Times.
