It was a busy day in the House of Representatives, with action on both the Iraq funding legislation and a major ethics reform measure. On the ethics front–and with Democratic dissension forcing votes on two separate measures–Republicans provided 195 of the 218 votes needed to pass a strengthening of ethics rules opposed by 85 percent of the Democratic caucus:
Meanwhile on Iraq, the House has voted to begin debate on legislation to fund the war. That legislation will also be passed primarily with Republican votes. Democrats are saying that the final legislation was not available for members to read for themselves until this morning because they were up late last night making concessions to the White House:
It’s ironic that Democrats will finally enact major legislation, but only with major help from Republicans. Perhaps when Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess, Democrats will apply this lesson and try to promote a more bipartisan approach to legislation.
