113th Congress, going down in history for its inaction, has a critical December to-do list [View all]

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/113th-congress-going-down-in-history-for-its-inaction-has-a-critical-december-to-do-list/2013/12/01/cf2b4808-57a0-11e3-8304-caf30787c0a9_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpol



Among the items on the must-do list, the confirmation of the new Fed chair is the top priority. Janet Yellen has cleared the Senate banking committee and already had more than enough support from Republicans to clear a 60-vote filibuster hurdle before Democrats unilaterally changed the rules and made all confirmations subject to a simple majority.

113th Congress, going down in history for its inaction, has a critical December to-do list
By Paul Kane, Published: December 1

The good news for Congress as it heads into the final workdays of the year is that, for the first time in five years, there are no edge-of-the-cliff December crises threatening to bring the country to its knees.

The bad news is that whatever gets done in December will still be part of a year with record-low congressional accomplishment.

From the confirmation of a new Federal Reserve chairman to the expiration of dairy pricing rules, House and Senate leaders head into the final month of 2013 with a checklist that is short but critical. But even a final burst of activity would do little to change the historic arc of this calendar year under the Capitol dome.

According to congressional records, there have been fewer than 60 public laws enacted in the first 11 months of this year, so below the previous low in legislative output that officials have already declared this first session of the 113th Congress the least productive ever. In 1995, when the newly empowered GOP congressional majority confronted the Clinton administration, 88 laws were enacted, the record low in the post-World War II era.