House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a formal impeachment inquiry by the House of Representatives. Civil rights icon John Lewis says we must not delay, because “our democracy is at stake.” Seven freshman Democrats wrote in a Washington Post op-ed, “These new allegations [against President Trump] are a threat to all we have sworn to protect.” We do not yet know what further steps House Democrats will take toward impeachment this week, but we know for certain what they will do next week, and the week after that: nothing.

That’s because at the end of this week, the House will stand in recess until Oct. 15. In fact, of the 97 days left in 2019, the House is scheduled to be in session only 31 days.