Here Are the House’s Summer Work Days — If This Doesn’t Boil Your Blood, Nothing Will
If you thought Congress was working overtime to deliver on President Trump’s America First agenda, think again. The House of Representatives’ summer schedule for the 119th Congress, released by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, has sparked a firestorm of outrage—and for good reason. The calendar, shared by conservative influencer Catturd on X, reveals a jaw-dropping reality: just 14 work days in June, 12 in July, and a big fat zero in August. That’s right—while Americans sweat through 12-hour shifts to pay their bills, the House is taking a month-long vacation, leaving Trump’s mandate to shrink government and secure the border in limbo.
The numbers speak for themselves. With only 136 session days planned for the year—down from 141 in 2023—standard House members are raking in $174,000 annually, or roughly $1,279 per day of work. For Majority Leader Scalise, that daily rate jumps to $1,422, while Speaker Mike Johnson pockets $1,643 a day. Meanwhile, the American taxpayer is left footing the bill for a Congress that seems more interested in beach time than governance. X users like The Right Axis didn’t mince words, comparing the House to Soviet elites who took “rest months” while citizens starved. “This isn’t leadership—it’s a parasite class,” they wrote, capturing the sentiment of a fed-up electorate.
This light schedule comes at a critical time. The 119th Congress, with its razor-thin 220–215 Republican majority, has a historic opportunity to codify Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, which have already slashed non-defense federal obligations by 20.5% compared to 2024. But with only three five-day work weeks all year and a 17-week vacation, as user Pocono Patriot pointed out, the House is squandering its chance to deliver. Trump himself called out Congress during his first term, tweeting in 2017 that the Senate should cancel its August recess to pass healthcare reform—a call that fell on deaf ears. History seems to be repeating itself.
Public frustration isn’t new. A 2021 Pew Research study found 67% of Americans think Congress does little, and this summer schedule only fuels that perception. For Trump supporters, it’s a betrayal of the MAGA mandate. As user Patriotic Baptist put it, “Real patriots would cancel vacations and get things done.” If this doesn’t make your blood boil, nothing will.
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Mark Van der Veen offers some of the most analytical and insightful writings on politics. He regularly opines on the motives and political calculations of politicians and candidates, and whether or not their strategy will work. Van der Veen offers a contrast to many on this list by sticking mainly to a fact-based style of writing that is generally combative with opposing ideologies.
