Scott Bruun: The Problem With Congress’s Work Schedule

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Scott Bruun, GoLocalPDX MINDSETTER™

Photo Credit: iStock

Karl Marx had it all wrong, of course. It’s not religion that is the “opium of the masses.” Not even close.

It’s the three-day weekend.

We love weekends. A few of us might even say that we live for them.

And those occasional three-day weekends? Bliss.

Yet every good thing in moderation, they say. There is always important work to be done. And while it sounds good, wouldn’t having long weekends - every weekend - put a big dent in our productivity?

Now take it step further, forget about the three-day weekend. Imagine for a moment that every single weekend was a four-day weekend. Wow!

But then also imagine that success at your job required extensive time, communication and interaction with your colleagues.

Might make it hard to succeed, right?

Well, welcome to Congress.

To say that Americans have a negative view of Congress is the understatement of the decade. In a August 2014 Gallup poll, Congress's approval stood at 13 percent. In another poll done in 2013, in a side-by-side comparison, people said that they prefer head lice over Congress by a margin of 67 percent to 19 percent. Apparently the remaining 14 percent could not decide.

Funny, of course, if not so sad. In our representative democracy, Congress is designed to be the institution closest to the people. Designed to be the voice of our conscience.

The branch of federal government central to Lincoln’s notion, “... of the people, by the people, for the people.”

The Simple Problem With Congress

Opinions abound on the causes of Congress's problems. Some blame partisanship, money, or divisive elections. Others suggest gerrymandered districts or lack of term limits. Some even say that the real problem is us. That we are a bitterly divided country – liberal versus conservative, urban versus rural, etc. – and Congress simply reflects this divide.

There is truth to all of this.

But could there also be a simpler cause? Could it be that Congress just does not spend enough time in session?

On average, Congress is together only 2½ days a week. Members arrive in Washington Monday night. From Tuesday through Thursday they gather to vote on bills, work in committees and partake in countless meetings. Most also, while in D.C., spend hours every day in small rooms outside the Capitol making fundraising calls. Then Thursday afternoon, or Friday morning at the latest, they head to Reagan or Dulles and fly home to their respective districts.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

That means here at home, we get to see Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s bowties and Congressman Kurt Schrader’s blue jeans and WWF belt buckles almost every weekend. Wonderful.

But extended time in their congressional districts means members are not together in Washington, D.C. They’re not working together. They’re not talking together. They’re not socializing together.

And they’re not doing, at least not adequately, the very core of what they’re constitutionally called together to do.

They are not deliberating.

Instead, we get what happens anytime a group is separated. Communication suffers. Cohesion weakens. Collegiality breaks down. Agendas stall.

Which then raises the question: Is the problem today that politicians are out of touch and “spend too much time in D.C.,” as has long been the popular critique?

Or is it that they spend too little there?

The Virtual World

The short week, coupled with the information-deluge era we live in, has also created other challenges. It’s made Congress increasingly “virtual” and, perhaps, a bit too “in touch.” Members see and are compelled to respond immediately to the constant wave of news and virtual content. This leads to sound-bite, social-media type responses in which members “speak” over rather than to each other.

It also, as Henry Kissinger suggests in his new book “World Order,” shrinks perspective by over-emphasizing the present.

In other words, it diminishes a politician's ability or reward for taking the long view.

There is a growing call for Congress to spend more time together working, and that’s good news. One idea gaining traction would require Congress to work three full weeks in a row, then take the fourth as a full week in their respective districts.

Spending more time together isn’t magic, of course. Chances are, head lice will still get the nod for a while.

But shortening those weekends may provide impetus toward renewed civility, authentic deliberation and real leadership.

And while it’s true that reform such as this would certainly result in fewer frequent-flyer miles for members of Congress, I’m sure it’s a price we are all willing to pay.

Scott Bruun is a fifth-generation Oregonian and recovering politician. He lives with his family in the 'burbs, yet dutifully commutes every day to Portland, where he earns his living on the fifth floor of Big Pink.