Column: Lame-duck Congress can make waves

The current “lame duck” session of the U.S. Congress can do more than limp into obscurity; it can end with a fearsome roar. Upending the tradition that nothing gets done between the general election and the swearing in of a new Congress, the next month or so could easily set a record for the most bills passed.

If the Congress stays in session seven days a week and works on these until the work is done, it has a real chance of preventing the chaos the incoming the Republican-controlled House will create while simultaneously going out in grand and often bipartisan style.

For these reasons, our group, Indivisible Hawaii, believes that Democrats and as many reasonable Republicans as possible in Congress must take the following specific actions before leaving Washington, D.C., and returning home:

1) Put wildly popular bipartisan bills up for a vote. This has already started to happen with the Marriage Equality Act, for which a dozen Republican senators joined 50 Democratic colleagues in blocking the bill from being filibustered to death. Other low-hanging fruit include the Electoral Count Act (needed to safeguard the 2024 election), the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, antitrust reforms and the Afghan Adjustment Act. There is no reason all of these cannot become law before the new Congress is installed. The MAGA Republicans in the House will never let these bills come to a vote once they take over in January, but there is sufficient support among Republicans and Democrats alike in the current Congress to pass most of these bills before then.

2) Pass a comprehensive appropriations bill before the current “continuing resolution” runs out on Dec. 16. That omnibus bill should include:

a) Full funding for the federal government’s fiscal year 2023 budget, including appropriations for the Department of Justice and the FBI that Republican leadership has pledged to cut.

b) Codification of protections for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients before SCOTUS almost certainly terminates DACA next year. This can be attached as a rider to the omnibus bill.

c) Extend the child tax credit. One of the most popular economic benefits for families, the expanded child tax credit (CTC) expired at the end of 2021. Republicans want corporate-friendly tax provisions: The poor ante up first; riches will trickle down to them, eventually. Democrats prefer a system that is unerringly fair, especially to families; they should look to make sure the CTC is also included in the omnibus.

d) Full funding of aid to Ukraine, thus avoiding pro-Putin legislators blocking it in the new Congress.

3) Raise the debt ceiling through reconciliation so it cannot be reversed and is not subject to the rule of 60. Republicans are already threatening to let our government default on its debt payments if Democrats do not let them cut Medicare and Social Security.

4) Establish a “January 6” Office in the Senate to which all House Jan. 6 Committee materials and staff can be transferred to avoid losing momentum. Invite U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, whose terms are ending, to direct the office, oversee its investigations and recommend new legislation.

This is an aggressive but entirely feasible agenda. To help pull it off, we ask every member of the Hawaii congressional delegation to stay in Washington, to ensure that these bills pass and these actions are taken. We encourage every person who cares about these issues to contact U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and Congressmen Ed Case and Kai Kahele to ask them to take whatever action is necessary to pass these bills before the end of the year.

Lisa Gibson and Jay Henderson are members of Indivisible Hawaii’s Leadership Council.